A message from beyond the grave
by Relentless-virus
Summary: Being a single mother is never easy, throw in a message of caution from a deceased loved one and it'll only be harder. Maple must find a way to keep her daughter safe, as well as solve the mystery left by her daughter's father. She won't be able to do it alone, she just needs help...just a little bit of extra help. (RyouxOC as a heads up!)
1. The first step

"Yugi Moto as won the grand tournament!" Yelled the announcer into the microphone. The crowd roared with pride, cheering and clapping, enveloping the stadium as the podium travelled down letting the spiky haired man back to the ground.

"Oh darn, I was hoping for the underdog." A disappointment voice sounded with a sigh, dish rags being twirled around the clean and now very dry pint glass.  
"Yeah well, you always cheer for the wrong team pumpkin….and you're always late for orders where's my pint?" The elderly man questioned, shaking his pint glass in the air.

She sighed as she turned back around to the man, taking his empty glass and putting it towards the nozzle, the glass tipped so the foam could glide down into the beer bath.  
"Says you. He's got proper good since he first started at Duelist Kingdom." The woman said, removing the glass from the nozzle and handing it back to the man "That's a couple of quid you know." She said to him, her hand extended. He grumbled and waved her off.  
"Just put it on my tab, and shoot for a better team while you're at it!" The elderly man wheezed out, a choking laughter in his voice causing the girl to wave her hand dismissively.

She leaned her back against the bar, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at the blinking, occasionally static screen. She heard a small hum next to her as an arm snaked around her shoulders, pulling her close.  
"Excited to see your cousin?" The heavy African accent asked beside her. The girl looked at her colleague from the corner of her eye before nodding her head turning her attention back to the screen.  
"Very, Blessing. I haven't seen him for a very long time." She said to her, a small sigh escaping her lips.  
"That's good child. Get Lizzie and go home, your plane is early tomorrow." Blessing told her, removing her arm and pushing her towards the bar door. The girl smiles widely at her manager, nodding her head and she lifted the door letting her out from behind the bar.  
"How long ya gonna be gone for, Maple?" A younger males voice asked. He only received a shrug for an answer.  
"Don't know. Maybe I'll never come back who knows." She said to him receiving disapproving tuts from Blessing, who was busy cleaning the bar top.  
"No child you're coming back. This is your home, not that silly country." She said to Maple, earning herself a small chuckle from the brunette, then turned her attention back to the young man. "She'll be gone for a month." She just smiled at her, letting out a small laugh.  
"Oh Blessing, we both know that's not how moving works." She said to her, earning herself another tut from the bar owner.  
"Go and collect your child, she's in the back room. And stay safe, I will come to Japan to beat sense into you if I have to." Blessing said to her, pointing her head towards the staff room door. With a small wave, Maple said goodbye to the patrons of the bar and pushes open the door to the staff room.

She could hear hushed whispers from the patrons, and the occasional raises voice of Blessing, letting her know subtlety what she thought. But Maple did not let this bother her, she knew this was the right choice.  
"Hey sweetie, time to get up. We're going home." She gently told the sleeping four year old, shaking her ever so slightly awake, just enough to gain her attention. The small child grunted, but pushed herself up anyway and yawned loudly. Maple smiled at her. This small being, that is her child, looking almost exactly like her, short brunette hair that ended at her shoulders and a small petite frame, apart from her eyes that were grey which she gained from her no longer around father. Unlike her mother, who had green eyes.

Lizzie sat up sleepily, almost immediately Maple picked her up and settled her onto her right hip.  
"You excited for tomorrow?" She asked her quietly as the child placed her head onto her mother's shoulder, nodding it tiredly but never saying a word. Maple smiled gently at the small being, kissing her forehead as she gently pushed open the staff rooms back door. The cool night air creeped in and hit Maples face something fierce, making her pull her small bundle closer to her.  
This would be the last time she experienced this air, it made her feel slightly sick. Sick in an excited way. Only good things were to come from now on.

~•~

Maple sighed as she brushed her teeth and combed through the tangled brown locks, occasionally yanking her hand away hard when she came to a very knotty part. She spat the residue toothpaste into the sink and skimmed her tongue across her teeth, before nodding at her appearance and grabbing her hair brush off the countertop. She hummed to herself slightly as she brushed the knots out from the bottom.  
"It's been years...wonder how he's doing." Maple muttered to herself. She pulled down the bags under her eyes "I should have got more sleep." The grumbled some more, grabbing the primer. Maple began her morning routine, fully aware of the fourteen hour trip she and Lizzie was about to take. She was glad she wore something comfy, just a simple t-shirt and jeans with trainers. Her hair was loose, falling just below her shoulder blades. She was an incredibly slim woman, however having Lizzie did leave her with stretch marks, something that just made her self conscious. Of course she never blamed her little girl for them and she'd go through it again. She made sure Lizzie was comfortable too, prepping her a dress with a shirt underneath.

It didn't take her long to prep herself. She chucked on the makeup and then chucked the small carry on bottles into her carry on bag in case she needed to give herself a touch up. She looked herself in the mirror nodding approvingly.  
"Maple, barmaid by night, make up artist by day! Mother all the time!" She announced to herself, cringing as a loud angry knock shook her bedroom door, gaining the attention of Lizzie who was busy chasing a fly that had perched itself outside the window, with her finger.  
"House loud mouth the rest of the time. Shut up!" The voice angrily shouted, before footsteps and suddenly a slam erupted the house. Maple sighed, silently glad she'd be leaving the house for a month. Don't get her wrong, a house share was nice; all she needed to do was pay for her room and everything else was shared. However, her housemates were….something to be desired.

They kept to themselves and only bothered her when they wanted food but didn't want to cook. The other girl in the house, Leigh, regularly came to her for her makeup skills, ranging from "I need something for a fancy dress party" to "I'm going on a date." Maple wouldn't have minded, if Leigh paid her for the services. All good and well to do these things but make up was expensive and so was Maples skill. It's just unfortunate that Medway lacked places that required her skills, with no professional theatres or studios, there wasn't much she could do. A wasted talent.

She looked at Lizzie, who had been sitting quietly on her bed and shrugged her shoulders.  
"They're just jealous because we're going on an amazing adventure." She told the small child, perching herself behind her and grabbed the small glitter hairbrush.  
"Are we living with uncle?" Lizzie asked her. Maple shook her head no.  
"No, but we're living close to him and his fiancé." She replies to her, grabbing two hair ties, parting the small child's hair down the middle. Lizzie nodded her head in understanding. She was a quote child, never spoke much, never made much of a fuss. A very well behaved child, but it was because of that she was normally teased by the other children at her current school. Lizzie was never like this all the time, only since her father didn't come back. Maple didn't want to think about that though. She knew the child would question later, but for now she wanted her to be just that, a child. A happy one at that.

Once she was done with her hair she stood up from behind her daughter and patted off her jeans. Turning to her daughter, Maple smiled widely and helped her off the bed, patting down her dress.  
"All ready to go?" She asked her, receiving an enthusiastic nod from the child. Maple grabbed their bags, slinging their carry on bag over her shoulder and led Lizzie from out the room. Locking it she turned around to the door.  
"Bye bye room." She said waving, Lizzie coping her with waving both her hands  
"Bye bye room!" Lizzie said rather loudly, then followed her mother down the stairs and into the front room, where Maple laid down the room key for good. The mother was glad, soon they'd have their own rooms again, it was the first step to moving on.

~•~

The train took about forty minutes to arrive at London and then another few to get to London Stansted to the airport. After getting herself and her daughter through passport check and onto the plane, Maple could feel the excitement bubble in the bottom of her stomach. Buckling Lizzie into her seat making sure she had the window, the brunette adult bounced ever so slightly in her seat, preparing herself for the take off. Maple constantly looked out of the window waiting for the horizon to move. She was more excited than her daughter who had never been on a plane before. She heard movement, she heard voices, but she didn't take in what they fully said or did. The only time she seemed back with everyone was when the plane started to move its wings, and the horizon began moving.  
"Oh my gosh we're moving!" She said excitedly, turning her head to her daughter trying to raise excitement in her, it worked, she earned a giggle. A man seated next to her seemed taken back by this sudden movement and sound, not that she noticed. The male next to her just sat in silence, taking in what was just said. He watched her carefully, wondering if she'd move again.  
"We're getting faster!" She suddenly announced to the little girl, her bouncing getting more...bouncy and voice filled with more excitement. Of course, the white haired gentleman was slightly intimidated by her sudden announcements of the planes functions. Catching a glimpse of the small child next to her, the intimidation fell. He could only assume she was making it fun for the child.

As soon as the plane started tilting into the air and taking off the ground, Maple instantly turned around to Lizzie again, a massive smile plastered on her face.  
"We're taking off!" She announced to her and while keeping her eyes on the outside world. He watched her some more. Maple's stomach felt like it was left on the tarmac, she couldn't imagine how Lizzie's must have felt. She smiled widely to herself as her bouncing continued. The brunette's attention never left her daughter, who was busy smiling widely and watching the clouds fly past the planes glass windows. The man beisde her cleared his throat and leaned forward in his seat.  
"Is...is this her first time flying?" He couldn't help but ask her gently, instantly grabbing her attention.  
"Oh? Oh yes! Yes it is." She said to him, laughing as she spoke to him, the smile still plastered on her face.

Maple stopped her bouncing, pressed her lips together and hummed into them.  
"It's a giant adventure for my little girl." She said to him, giddy about being in the air, peeking over the white haired man's shoulders occasionally to grab a glimpse of the sky.  
"I'm Maple by the way, are you going anywhere exciting? Well of course you are you're on this plane but whereabouts are you going?" she asked him, words spilling out of her mouth, almost as if she couldn't stop. It took the man back, she was chatty...very chatty.  
"I'm actually going home from a business trip." He said to her, his voice calm.

Maple nodded her head enthusiastically, awing at his words.  
"That's nice, was business fun? Oohhh what is it you do? Anything exciting?" She asked him quickly, only taking him back more. He sat uncomfortably in his chair, he didn't know how exactly to deal with her upbeat attitude, and for him, being a stranger she just met, she was very warm and welcoming to him. Maple noticed this, her eyes going slightly wide, her mouth forming an oh, as if realization had just struck.  
"I'm sorry, I got carried away. I work... worked as a bartender so talking is pretty much half my job. You don't need to tell me anything if you don't want to, I'll stop annoying you." She said to him, the smile still on her face.  
"It's no bother….I'm just not used to it. My name's Bakura." The white haired man introduced himself as. Maple nodded her head as she leaned back in her seat. She stayed quiet, happy at least she knew his name. Bakura looked at the little girl next to her, who was too busy with her eyes in the clouds.  
"What's her name?" He asked her, pointing his head at the child. Maple turned to Lizzie slightly and tapped her shoulder, gaining her attention.  
"This is Lizzie, you want to say hello?" She introduced and leaned backwards. Lizzie shook her head and tried her best to hide herself into her mother's side. Maple chuckled and looked at Bakura apologetically.  
"She's a little bit shy." She stayed to him, receiving nothing more than an understanding smile.

Maple watched the window once more. It has been a few hours since her small, almost one sided talk with Bakura. She knew some customs, his name sounded Japanese, so introduction with just his surname is all she expected. He seemed pleasant, and wasn't put off with her mouth running off. The plane trip other than this was calm and smooth. Maple closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Her daughter, Lizzie, had made herself an almost like nest into her side, keeping herself comfortable. Images flashed through her mind, images of a younger her with her cousin back at her home when he visited. A small smile crept on her face as she watched the memory play in her mind.

Her small nap was soon interrupted by the plane shaking. Her eyes jolted open as she looked around almost panicked. The plane had never done this in previous trips, what was happening?  
"Ladies and Gentlemen please fasten your seatbelts. We are experiencing some turbulence, we expect to be out of this in about fifteen minutes." A stewardess announced on the plane phone. Maple nodded her head as she buckled up the seat belt. She took a deep breath, settling into her seat. She glanced at Lizzie, who didn't seem have noticed the shaking if the plane  
"I've never experienced turbulence." She mentioned casually to Bakura beside her, remembering he was there. He glanced at her, humming slightly in question, watching her nervously bounce her leg up and down.  
"Are you okay, Maple?" Bakura questioned, receiving a nod.  
"I'm fa-iiinnn-na-na-na-ne." She spat out as the plane shook harshly, making her somewhat quesy.

Bakura knitted his brows together as he watched her close her eyes and take in another deep breath.  
"I'm fine! Isn't this fun?" She questioned, trying to uplift her mood. This failed at the plane shook some more. Maple glanced towards the window, her eyes growing wide as the plane wings shook violently, at least violently to her. She then glanced at her daughter, sliding an arm protectively around her.  
"I do not like the look of that wing." She mentioned, backing in her seat, gaining her new friends attention. He looked over her shoulder questionably, placing on a reassuring smile.  
"It'll be fine, it's normal. We have...about ten minutes and then we're out." Bakura said to her, turning his wrist to look at his watch. Maple nodded her head. She could cope with that, ten minutes was nothing. After all she was Maple, the fantastic makeup artist!...How being a makeup artist would help her right now she had no idea but she knew it would! She was just glad that Lizzie was sleeping through it. One thing Maple was always grateful for, Lizzie slept like a brick.  
"You mentioned you were a barmaid, did you enjoy it?" Bakura asked her suddenly, making her jump. He was a softly spoken man, and if anything Maple hadn't expected him to make conversation...so why was he? Not that Maple was one to disregard conversation, oh no she jolly well wasn't!  
"I did yeah! Interesting people, interesting days, never the same you know." She told him, as if forgetting that a moment ago she was terrified about the plane turbulence. "One of my regulars bought in a dog!" She continued "and he was the cutest little dog I've ever seen!" She continued some more "Absolute idiot, couldn't tell his tail from his nose. Kept running into chairs. I think he was blind, or at least partially he was about sixteen after all." She continued forever. But Bakura just sat patiently, listening to the rambling. She wasn't being malicious towards him, she was being pleasant and over all just very chatty. It seemed to help her get over the fact that the plane had turbulence.  
"I -love- dogs. Lizzie wanted one but we lived in a shared house and only had a room together in it and our house mates did not like dogs. Oohhh I wonder if my cousin actually got one! I hope he did I'm never leaving the house if he did." Maple continued to Bakura, never stopping to take a breath. Bakura sat quietly, a small gentle smile on his face, brows knitted together. He didn't regret asking, he only wished she'd stop to maybe breathe every once in a while.  
"You said you were on a business trip! Where do you work?" Maple asked Bakura, turning her attention towards him fully, a giant grin on her face. This took him back. He was not actually expecting her to ask about him. After a few seconds of silence, he began to reply to her.  
"I work for Domino City museum." He replied simply in his naturally calm voice. Maple looked excited about this.  
"Really?! I love museums. My cousin lives in Domino city! Oh such a small world." Maple replied with joy, the wide smile never leaving her face, her arm still around her small child protectively. "Well, I hope you enjoyed your time in London. I don't live in London, I lived in Medway. It's a gross place to be honest. People stab each other in broad daylight. Delightful really…" she said trailing off as she looked at the clock screen that showed on back of the passengers street in front of her.

A few more seconds went by with silence before the overly chatty woman perked up once more.  
"Oh gosh is that the time?! I should get some sleep. Need to be wide awake to see my cousin and keep an eye Lizzie. You should get sleep too! I mean you're probably used to doing these trips but in case your not, get some sleep." She told Bakura as she rummaged through her carry on bag that was tucked underneath her set. She took out a small packet of facial wipes and began taking the makeup off her face, stuffed the used towelettes into the brown unused sick bag.  
"Did you notice the turbulence stopped? That's great." Maple said to him, as Bakura just nodded his head and kept the small smile on his face.  
"Sleep well Maple." He simply said and turned slightly in his seat.

She was a nice girl don't get him wrong, but she was very talkative. He heard shuffling next to him, and the squelching noises of the chair as Maple turned around to get comfortable while also making sure that Lizzie was comfortably nuzzled into her chest. The plane ride was certainly turning….entertaining.

~•~

"We are now landing in Domino City. Please fasten your seat belts as the plane lands. Please remain seated while the plane is taxiing to the airport. Thank you for choosing Domino Airways." The stewardess announced. Maple shuffled in her seat, fixing the last of her makeup. She had made sure Lizzie was buckled into her seat. Just a small bit of foundation, nothing more, nothing less. Oh and some primer...and concealer. She smiled to herself in the small mirror and placed it back into her carry on. The plane landed smoothly, and began its taxi service to the airport. She watched as Lizzie watched out the window with excitement, the buildings rolling pass her. Maple the opportunity to turn her attention to Bakura.  
"Well it was lovely meeting you Bakura and I hope we bump into each other again." Maple said to him, keeping the wide smile. Bakura seemed a bit taken back, but smiled back nicely at her, nodding his head.  
"Pleasure meeting you too, Maple, and you Lizzie." He replied as the plane slowed to a stop. Lizzie tore her gaze away from the window and quietly crept back into her mother's side, giving the man a timid wave. Bakura waved back at her before getting up to retrieve his carry on luggage. Maple undid hers and Lizzie's seat belt and waited until Bakura removed himself from his seat. She watched him as he stretched his arms up to grab his bag, then proceeded to leave the aircraft.

It was the only time she had to take in his appearance properly. Very slender guy who dressed in a smart casual way. Shirt with a cardigan and then some jeans and smart shoes. He was attractive, Maple would agree to that. Bakura happened to be incredibly sweet as well, at least she believed so even if she was the one doing most, if not all the talking. Still, not for now. Maple turned her attention to Lizzie, a wide smile in her face as she shuffled out of her seat and waited to Lizzie to get out of hers.  
"We're here! You excited to see your uncle?" Maple asked the child, receiving an excited nod from her. The woman quickly remembered they're carry on bag and went back to the seat grabbing it. Swinging it onto her shoulder she went back into the isle and took a hold of Lizzie's hand, beckoning her to begin moving forward.

They managed to get off the tightly packed isles and quickly made their way towards border control. Maple began retrieving their passports from the carry on bag and their immigration paperwork. This would all be worth it. She saved so hard, never got anything for herself but always made sure Lizzie had what she needed. Moving her, that was going to change that. She was going to give her daughter the best life she could. Maple made sure they had enough funds for at least three months, giving her enough time to find a job.

Walking towards border control, Maple handed the gentleman her and Lizzie's paperwork. He asked for their passports, which she handed over for inspection and waited patiently. The man checked them over, stamping them accordingly and then handed back to the adult. She thanked him and proceeded to walk Lizzie through the gates first and then herself.

She felt Lizzie grab her hand tighter. There was a lot of people, a lot of them wore suits and a lot were in a rush. Maple nodded her head towards the luggage arrivals line. When she tried to walk over Lizzie had frozen solid. There was too many people for the child's liking.  
"Hey now, you okay sweetie?" Maple asked her, bending down to her level. Lizzie shook her head, her eyes continuing to wonder everywhere. With a small sympathetic smile, Maple placed her arms under Lizzie's arms and picked her up, placing her onto her hip.  
"Come on then, we're nearly there. Just think about saying hello to your uncle again." Maple said to her, earning a small nod from the child.

The two made their way to the luggage rails. It didn't take long for Maple to stop their things. One small pink suitcase with "Lizi" scrawled onto it. That was definitely her daughter's hand writing. Another shortly behind it with various cats and dogs printed on it. A small tag sat on the handle reading "Maple." The adult placed Maple onto the ground again and grabbed the suitcases. She handed the small pink one to Lizzie.  
"Ready? We're nearly there!" She said to the small child, who began looking perkier and more excited.

They began making their way towards the arrivals hall. Maple looked around frantically for her cousin until she spotted him with his fiancé. She waved at the two of them until they noticed.  
"Uncle Duke!" Lizzie yelled excitedly, dropping her suitcase and running over to the black haired man with odd eye make up. He was fully prepared for this and quickly kneeled down, sweeping her off the floor and bringing her up into the air. Maple smiled widely at the three of them, grabbed Lizzie's suitcase and began walking over to them.  
"Nice to see you again, Duke, Serenity." Maple said to the two. Serenity smiled shyly at her fiance's cousin while Duke continued to "torture" his niece.  
"It's nice to see you again too Maple. How was the flight?" She asked her. Maple thought for a second before smiling widely.  
"It was enjoyable. Sat next and talked the ear off of a guy next to me. He was a very friendly guy, didn't seem to mind bless his soul." Maple said to her, a small chuckling escaping Serenity's lips. Duke had placed Lizzie back into the floor and watched the two woman interact, keeping a hold of the child's hand.  
"We should go, I'm in the car park and I don't want to be charged through the roof." He said to the two. Maple nodded her head and began following the couple, Lizzie kept up with Dukes pace; not that she had a choice with holding his hand.

~•~

They sat in the car, Duke had decided on the behalf of them that the pair were going to spend a few hours at his house, with a few of his other friends coming from over for a catch up and just a chat. Maple could never get over how Duke was able to afford such expensive luxury cars. Maybe he's Dungeon Dice Monsters game really did kick off big time. Still she was pleased for him, it was his little business and something he loved to do. She could hear Duke and Serenity having a chat among themselves so she turned her attention back to Lizzie again.

Lizzie was sitting in the back next to her mother, counting the cars going past. Not just any cars though. Maple had set her a task, how many blue cars can she count on the way back to Duke's house. The mother could hear Lizzie count, occasionally stopping to count on her fingers before going back to counting again. Maple leaned over to her, looking out of the window.  
"How many have you counted so far?" She asked her. Lizzie thought for a few minutes before finally giving up and counting on her fingers, then she turned to her mother quite pleased with herself.  
"This many" She said joyfully, holding up seven fingers. Maple giggled to herself, wondering if she really did count that many. Lizzie could count to ten, but not in the right order, she could also write the numbers zero to nine, but rather or not she knew the order was another thing. Still, the child was proud of herself.  
"Okay, let's continue then; we'll use our fingers all the time this time okay?" Maple said to her as the car stopped at traffic lights. Lizzie nodded her head and looked back out at the window, Maple taking a hold of her small hands and making them into light fists.

The pair watched closely, waiting for any blue cars to come by. Blue cars were not as common as red or silver, and with Lizzie starting school hopefully next week, Maple thought setting her a number challenge would at least help her count in a semi right order. Soon a blue car passed. Maple, very slowly said "one" with Lizzie; who was stuttering with what number to start with. She took the child's little finger and made it straight, showing "one." Lizzie smiled to herself, feeling accomplished with herself. Soon another came pass, and then another, the pattern repeating each time until she got to ten.  
"See, ten blue cars." Maple said to her, touching each individual finger. Lizzie smiled widely to herself and held up her fingers to Serenity who had peaked into the back.  
"Look! Look! Ten!" She said excitedly, keeping her hands up as the car stopped outside a driveway, that currently had another car in it. Serenity nodded her head, grinning at the child. Duke sighed at the figure inside the car parked on the driveway.  
"Your brother is here early." He told Serenity, who looked ahead. She laughed slightly, giving an apologetic look.  
"I'll tell him to move." She said about to hop out of the car, however she stopped when Duke gently grabbed her wrist.  
"Don't. I'll just block him in." He said, shrugging his shoulders and getting out of the car. Maple unbuckled Lizzie's seat belt and got out of the car as Duke opened up the child's door.

With the four of them now out of the car they went towards the house. Duke quickly knocked on the car window, grabbing the attention of the person inside. He made a roll down motion with his hand, prompting the window to be rolled down.  
"Hey Joey." Duke said to him, crossing his arms over the top of the open window and looking into the car. "Park in my driveway again and I'll puncture your tires." He said flatly. Joey glared at him, not noticing that his sister, nor Duke's cousin or niece were behind the black haired male.  
"I dare ya! It's not my car!" He said to him, raising to the threat. Duke shrugged his shoulders, banging the top of the car as he stood up straight.  
"Don't care." He simply said and moved away from the car. Joey noticed the people behind and waved enthusiastically. Lizzie crept herself behind her mother, only peeking her head out a little bit to watch what was going on.  
"Joey Wheeler! Did you just threaten Duke to puncture -MY- tires!?" An angry females voice sounded from inside the car. The blonde, looking rather sheepish, turned to her to try and cool her down. Duke, with a look of satisfaction motioned for the others to follow him inside. Maple gently pushed Lizzie forward, making the small child to move ahead to get inside.

~•~

"So we're waiting on a few other people for this catch up. One came back from London today." Duke said to them as he set up a small games console and turned the TV to the correct channel. Lizzie sat in front of it patiently, watching him closely to learn what he was doing. Maple looked a bit surprised, before smiling widely.  
"Really? The guy I sat next to was also coming from London! How funny would it be if it was him? Well, you probably wouldn't find it funny, I would find it hilarious!" Maple rambled on, earning a raised eyebrow from her cousin and a "A-ha" from him as he gave the console controller to Lizzie. Lizzle thanked him silently and looked at the screen, watching a speedy blue hedgehog running fast on the screen.  
"Small world I would say! You know, like the song? 'It's a small world afterall~'" Maple continued, quoting "The Lion King" with the voice. Duke sighed at her, before watching her closely to see if she'd speak some more. Once he knew she was done he began taking his turn.  
"Good to see you're still in high spirits. Want a drink?" He said to her, at least commenting that she was still rather cheerful, despite the current situation. Maple nodded her head, asking for just some water. Lizzie was too hooked to the game to answer, leaving Maple to say that Lizzie would like some squash.

Maple and Serenity went to sit on the couch together, getting into some small talk themselves. Soon afterwards Joey and his girlfriend had joined them. Both blonde, both big on attitude. Maple said they suit each other quite well. At least, it one was too angry to answer to something the other one could. Plus, Maple was sort of Joey's fan. Well, not sort of, she was. She always made she cheer for him when she heard he had entered competitions even if he couldn't hear her.  
"Oh!" Maple said, turning her attention to the blonde haired male, silently thanking Duke for the water.  
"I saw you in the tournament yesterday! Well not in person but on the TV! And come to think about it it was probably a couple of days now because we get your broadcasts a few days later." Maple said to him quickly and excitedly. Joey smiled to himself, puffing out his chest with a look that said "Is that so" on his face.  
"Anyway my point is it sucks you lost!" Ego instantly deflated, followed by the loud laughter coming from her cousin, and a snicker from the blonde duelists girlfriend. "But I also wanted to congratulate you on getting so far. You were amazing!" And like that the ego was back but not as big. Joey however was doing his best to play it cool.  
"I'll win next time. Yugi can't keep winning forever!" Joey said to her, showing himself to be just as determined. Maple smiled to him agreeingly.  
"I'll keep cheering!" She said to him excitedly.

Soon the house filled with another couple of bodies, one being the "always winning every tournament" Yugi Moto; who while still short had actually grown somewhat taller since Maple had last seen him, and their friend Tristan. It looked like he had just come off his shift from work, he seemed rushed and out of breath as if he had just ran to get here. Lizzie had not really taken any notice, she was too into this game with a hedgehog, trying to collect as many rings as possible despite the fact that wasn't the mission at all. Still, it kept her entertained.  
"Nice to see you again, Maple." Yugi greeted, Maple giving in a small wave in return.  
"Nice to see you again too! Congratulations on winning your last tournament. Saw it working my last shift in the pub." Maple said to him, taking a quick sip of her water.  
"Any idea what you're going to do for work now that you're here?" Duke asked her, making Maple think for a moment. She hummed lightly to herself as she thought about it. She knew she had the money in the bank but that will only last her and Lizzie a few months. When it came for more…  
"I've got some funds in the bank. I'm going to try and find a job for Makeup artist. If not, anything will do. She said to them honestly, making sure it was low enough so Lizzie didn't hear. Lizzie may not have understood the concept of money yet, but that still didn't mean Maple wanted her to hear. Too young for this sort of thing.

Just as Maple finished speaking another couple of people came into the room. One was a brunette haired girl and another was the man Maple had been talking the ear off of on the plane.  
"Oh, I know you!" She said rather cryptically looking at the two. "Well I know both of you, but you Bakura! I know I said I hoped we bumped into each other again but I didn't think it'd be this soon." Maple said to him. So this must have been the friend that he was going on about when he said they had returned from London. Such a small world. Maple smiled at the two of them.  
"It's great to see you again as well Teá. How's the dancing going?" Maple asked her. A small sigh came from Teá's lips as she furrowed her brows, dropping herself down on the couch next to her and Serenity.  
"I'm on break at the moment." She simply said. Maple gave an understanding nod, deciding not the press on any further with the matter at hand.  
"Please, make yourself at home." Duke said half sarcastically but also half seriously. Lizzie stopped playing her game for a second when she noticed that there were a lot more people in the room. She slowly crept up onto her feet and immediately went over to Maple, forcing herself onto her lap in her own attempt to keep away from everyone else. Teá smiled sweetly at the child, rubbing the top of her head and scruffing up her hair. Joey looked at Maple, a questionable look on his face.  
"So you know Bakura?" He asked rather confused. Bakura was the one to answer Joey's question.  
"Yes, I was in the seat next to her coming back here." He said gently to him. Joey hummed to himself, waving it off in the end. It truly was a small world, he'd admit that.

Lizzie watched silently from her mother's lap looking at everyone carefully. She knew some people, she thought she did anyway. She knew her uncle Duke and auntie Serenity, however if she did meet everyone else she didn't remember. She knew she met Bakura earlier on today, so that was three people in the room she knew. Everyone else was kind of a mystery to her. She pulled on Maple's top gaining her attention.  
"Why is his hair really spikey?" She asked her, pointing to Yugi. Maple thought for a second to herself, noticing only a few people were paying attention to her. Humming to herself, she thought of an answer rather quickly.  
"It's his natural hair." She told her, not really thinking of anything else to suggest, not without it sounding like a suggestion to Lizzie.  
"He looks like Tom from "Tom and Jerry" when he stuck his finger into a plug." She said to her. Maple couldn't help but giggle slightly, shaking her head.  
"He might do, but Tom is a cartoon character. It's dangerous to do that." Maple said to her, earning a small nod from the child.

Unlike Maple, Lizzie was not into duel monsters. Maybe it was because she was too young to understand, but Lizzie didn't understand why people liked them so much. They just looked like shiny cards; she could get shiny cards from the cereal boxes her mother bought her for breakfast. Humming to herself, the child slowly took herself off of Maple's lap once more and went up to Yugi, tugging on his hand to gain his attention. Once had she looked away nervously.  
"I'm stuck on a game can you get my unstuck please?" She asked politely. Yugi nodded his head following the small child over to where the game station and TV was. Sure it may seem innocent, but Maple knew better. Maple knew that Lizzie was using this as an excuse to see if his hair was real or not.

~•~

The small group talked for hours. Maple learned how everyone was doing since she last saw them. She learned a bit more about Bakura. Turns out he was friends with them for years, it's just whenever Maple was able to visit, she never got a chance to see him. As a teenager he was incredibly shy. He was shy now, as an adult but less so. Maple also learned that Tristan was currently working as a mechanic, he loved bikes so it only made sense. He was working while getting his qualification. It made Maple wonder that maybe once Lizzie was at school she could start doing part time education.  
"Hey, there's something I always wanted to ask ya." Joey spoke up, grabbing Maples attention. She tilted her head slightly in question as she waited for him to go on.  
"Lizzie's father...where is he?" Joey asked, pointing his head towards the small child that was currently standing behind Yugi who sat on the floor, parting his hair so she could watch the screen.  
"Oh...he's away…" Maple said, dragging her eyes off the child. She suggested slightly in her seat as the others waited seeing if she'd say more about it. Instead she took a deep breath and turned her attention to Duke.  
"Can I speak to you, privately for a moment?" She asked him. Unsure, Duke agreed and as quickly as that the pair left the room to the outside.

Joey watches confused before turning his attention back to the others.  
"Did I say something?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders. Serenity opened her mouth to speak, before closing it and shaking her head.  
"No but...I think Maple should tell you what happened when she's ready." She said to her older brother. Joey hummed to himself, shrugging his shoulders, before being whacked by Mai for being insensitive. Tristan also joined in with the scolding of Joey, who was trying to defend his view point.  
"Papa will come back soon." Lizzie said quietly, grabbing their attention. Yugi briefly looked up to her as she leaned her chin into the top of his head.  
"Mama said he'll be back soon and then we can be a happy family again." She said excitedly not thinking much about it.

That didn't sit well with Bakura, having lost his own parent as a child. He could understand why Maple maybe doing it, but he also knew that Lizzie's heart will be shattered when she found out.

The two stood outside for a good couple of minutes. The air was cold and fresh. Maple took a deep breath through her nose, images from two years ago flashing across her mind.  
"I still miss him, Duke." Maple muttered to her cousin, earning a confused look from the dungeon dice monster master. It took a moment for it to click, but when it did he silently said oh.  
"You mean Richard?" Duke asked just to clarify. Maple nodded her head, biting her bottom lip.  
"I miss him so much. It's been two years since he died, two years since Lizzie last saw her daddy...do you know how hard that is for her?" Maple asked him, her brows furrowed, a sad, upset smile on her face. Duke remained silent, what could he say in a situation like this? He couldn't say much, he didn't know a lot about their relationship, only the little bits she told him.  
"It's so hard, hard for her, hard for me. She asks when is he coming back? I don't know how to explain to her that he's not. I keep stumbling. Everytime that question pops up I stumble and say "soon darling soon."...Soon is never coming." Maple said to him, her fists clenching into her hands.

Duke stayed quiet, he knew her life hadn't been a smooth one. Placed into foster care at a young age herself because her parents chose drugs over her, being fostered by a lady called Blessing, who she later begun working for. When Blessing found out she became pregnant at the age of sixteen hell broke loose. When she found out it was with a man who was two years older than year, it became worse. Duke remembered her calling him on Skype, distressed and tearful, saying that Blessing wants her to get rid of it but she didn't want to and neither did Richard. Richard, all the time he was alive had been her rock. He had provided for his small family, provided until she completed secondary school, he was an amazing dad. He helped her when she hit her dark places. Without him, she struggled and Duke knew that. It was why she moved.

Still, he remained silent, watching as his cousin took a deep breath to calm herself down. She wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands and took a deeper breath to clear the snot that gathered in her throat. Once she settled down, she breathed out slowly.  
"I'll tell her, when she nexts asks, I'll tell Lizzie the truth. She has a right to know, to help both of us move on." Maple said to Duke, wiping her hands onto her jeans. Duke nodded his head, and ruffled his cousins hair.  
"You'll be fine, you've done well so far." He said to her, earning a wide smile from her through tear soaked skin and a red nose. Maple turned to him silently, taking in another deep breath.  
"What if she doesn't forgive me? I've lied to her for these past two years." Maple said to him. Duke thought to himself quickly before waving his hand dismissively, as if saying she wouldn't be.  
"She'll be fine, she adores you." Duke said to her. Maple nodded her head, muttering that he was right and wiped her nose once more with her arm.

Maple took her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time. She sighed slightly and turned her attention to Duke once more.  
"I should head off, I'm signing Lizzie up to a school tomorrow." She told him, receiving a nod. The two turned around and walked back into the house. Maple watched as Lizzie played a video game with Joey now, apparently getting over Yugi's very spiky hair, something with a dragon on it, Maple wasn't too into video games she was a reader. But it was apperently she was bored of the hedgehog. She whistled gaining Lizzie's attention. Lizzie waved her hand at her and stood up, handing the controller to Joey to continue and then ran up to her mother.  
"Hey sweetie, we're going home. Say bye bye." She asked her. Lizzie turned around to everyone and smiled widely, waving both her hands.  
"Bye bye!" She said cheerfully, receiving byes from everyone else. Playing video games seemed to have bought her out of her shell. Maple picked up Lizzie as Duke came up beside her. Lizzie nuzzled into her mother's side, putting her head onto her shoulder. Duke was going to drop the pair off home, seeing as their suitcases was still in his car trunk.

~•~

Maple finished unpacking the last of their clothes. Lizzie was in the other room, happily looking around everywhere in every nook and cranny. If she was impressed now just wait until she saw she got her own room again! Maple leaned against the wall of her daughter's new room. She had already made up her bed for her. Currently all her other things like toys were still in the cardboard boxes that had arrived days before her. It was a nice size apartment. She had discovered that Bakura, the young man who she was now convinced she was stalking, lived a couple of doors down from her and Lizzie. The young mother could not dwell on this for long, feeling her stomach rumble. If hers was rumbling, her daughter's definitely was.

She exited her daughter's room and went back into the living area. Lizzie was laid on the floor on her back counting the wall tiles. Or at least she thought she was counting anyway. She was nodding her head, eyes flickering from tile to tile.  
"You hungry?" Maple asked her. Lizzie immediately sat up and nodded her head, then flopped onto her stomach. Maple chuckled slightly and nodded her head towards the door.  
"Come on then. I saw a store when uncle Duke dropped us back. Let's have a quick look in there." She said, tapping on her shoes at the entrance of their new flat. Lizzie followed suit and placed her shoes on, doing up the velcro straps. Once on, the pair left the apartment.

Maple turned around and began locking the door behind her. Lizzie had taken herself over the the rails and looked over. She stood on her toes, her small hands on the railing and chin just over the top as she watched the people below walking past the block. Everyone looked like ants to her from here. Maple tapped her shoulder, gaining her attention and nodded her head towards the way to the shops. Lizzie quickly let go of the rail and ran ahead, stopping at the stairs and waiting for her mother. As soon as Maple caught up she took a hold of the girls hand and slowly went down the stairs, or in Lizzie's case, jump down each one carefully. All the way until they reached the bottom. She let go of her hand once more and began running ahead again. A small smile crept onto Maple's face. Lizzie was enjoying it here, the new surrounding unfazing her. Excitement grew in her at the thought of Lizzie bringing home friends from school, or even making new friends in the park.

It didn't take long for the pair to get to the superstore. She just needed some ingredients for tonight, she could always do a bigger shop tomorrow. Lizzie had began taking herself off to look around the store. Maple grabbed a basket and began looking around, muttering to herself the ingredient list for tonight's dinner.  
"Mince, Spaghetti, Onions, Tomatoes, Garlic, Ginger, Sauce." She repeated over and over again. Each time she came to an item she needed she took it off her verbal list and looked for more.

Lizzie on the other hand was having her own adventure in the store. She had managed to find the sweet aisle and was curious about all of them. She picked up each different sweet, tried her best to read the label and then placed it back when she discovered she couldn't. Lizzie was excellent when it came to reading, but only English and this...not a lot of it was in English. Pressing her lips together, the child looked for something she understood.  
"Are...you okay?" Asked a familiar voice. Lizzie looked up at the person, knitted her brows together and turned her head to look away. It was the man from earlier, Tristan. The man with brown hair in a spike. She saw him bend down in the corner of her eyes.  
"Were you looking for something specific?" He asked her. Lizzie shrugged her small shoulders; she wasn't sure what she was looking for. Tristan hummed to himself, turning himself to look at the aisle.  
"I don't think your mum would be happy with you eating chocolate this late…Where's your mum?" He asked her. Lizzie thought for a second, realising that she was going to have to say something to him.  
"Shopping here…" She said quietly. Tristan thought to himself briefly as he stood up. The child could hear the popping in his knees as he did so. A familiar sound, but she couldn't think of from where.  
"They sell bread filled with sweet things here, why don't we go to that?" Tristan asked her, earning a look of confusion. Bread...filled bread. That sounded weird to the child. Maybe it was a sandwich? Still, he held out his hand for her to follow and Lizzie was curious, so she did.

They arrived at the bread aisle. Tristan was right! At least, she assumed he was, she didn't know what any of it said. She picked up different breads in their plastic wraps and shook them close to her ear, expecting them to be hollow. Lizzie looked at them in confusion when there was nothing rattling. She looked up at Tristan, the confusion visible on her face. He knelt down to her height, pointing at the weird symbols on the packet.  
"This is red bean bread. It's very sweet." He said to her, then pointed to the other one in her other hand. "And this is Melon bread. It's also sweet, but you might like it more." He told her. Lizzie nodded slowly, as if understanding what he had said. Tristan remained calm, keeping a small smile on his face. Lizzie looked up, the confusion on her face quickly changing to that of joy.  
"Mama! Look!" She said excitedly, gaining Maple's attention. Maple looked a little bit surprised to see Tristan there as well, but smiled and waved at him anyway; walking up to the pair. The small child waving the bread packets in her hands.  
"Tritin said this one is red bean and this one is melon!" She said excitedly. Maple hummed at her as she knelt down to her level.  
"Is that so?" She said, glancing at Tristan, who grinned at her. She silently thanked him and turned her attention back to Lizzie.  
"Let's put them into the basket and we'll share one tonight after dinner. How does that sound?" She asked her, receiving a very excited yay from the child. As if they were to disappear, Lizzie dropped them in the basket. She began trying to drag the basket towards the tills. Maple quickly picked up the basket, muttering to herself that at least she got everything for dinner tonight and turned her attention to Tristan.  
"Thank you, Tristan. I know she's safer here than back in England, but I'm glad you're the one she bumped into." Maple said to him. Tristan just kept the grin on his face and shrugged his shoulders.  
"Don't worry about it. I'll catch you later, I need to rush home. I need to be up early tomorrow." Tristan said to her, and quickly turned his attention back to Lizzie.  
"Let me know which one you like best, okay kiddo?" He said to her. Lizzie quickly nodded and waved her arm as he hurried off. Maple looked down at her daughter and then into the basket.  
"Come on, we'll pay for this and head home." She said to her, nodding her head towards the cashiers.

~•~

The smell of garlic filled the small apartment. The windows were damp with condensation. Maple sat on the edge of Lizzie's bed. The child slept soundly, her belly full of her dinner and half of the red bean bread; which she didn't really like much. Maple tucked a small bit of her hair behind her ear, watching the child sleep. She was always a good sleeper, never made a fuss at night and always slept through it. Maple thought that maybe she'd be a bit more restless, being in a different country but nope she was wrong. Lizzie was proving to take on everything in her way.

The mother gently pushed herself off the bed, quietly leaving the girls room. Very silently, she closed her door. The apartment seemed empty without all their stuff everywhere. The boxes were neatly stacked onto the sound of room. Only a few of the big items, like the table and chairs and TV cabinet had been unpacked; but only because they were too big to fit into boxes. Maple wasn't too sure what she was expecting, they didn't own many things. She had to sell a lot of it after Richard died to pay for funeral costs. The brunette ran the potential conversations through her mind. It could go one or two ways, or it could go neither and Lizzie may just surprise her in general.

She couldn't keep thinking about it. Maple walked herself to her room and sat on her bed, then lied on her back, staring at the ceiling. Her brows knitted together as she breathed in deeply.  
"This is just the first step." She muttered to herself, breathing out slowly through her nose. This was the first step of moving on. This was the first step to having a better life. This was the first step to move into the future.

This was the very first, hardest step.


	2. Friends

It had been a week since Maple and her daughter, Lizzie, moved to Domino City to start their lives over. It had been hectic. Between finding ways of entertaining the child, getting her signed up for school, school uniforms, the occasional side tracking of a kitten in a box that needed a home and suddenly now lives with them and just general parenting, Maple was unable to find time for herself to be able to apply for jobs. Not to mention trying to introduce Lizzie into different foods so that she wasn't living off of the stuffed bread for days off end. That had she still had to unpack her belongings, even though there wasn't much in the house and mostly everything that was stored in the warehouse until they moved had already been bought in. There was just one last box, and in it was the belongings of Robert. Of course, she made sure Lizzie was fully unpacked.

He's body was left behind, well ashes; she had to bring something. So she bought items that were important to him, something she thought maybe had part of his soul in. The man didn't have much, a small box that was currently sealed and a small stuffed bear holding a heart. The only other item he had of great importance to him was buried with him when they buried the urn. The man cared greatly for their small family.

The pair had known each other since she started secondary school. He was two years older than her, but knowing an older boy was always seen as cool, dating an older boy put you on top of the food chain. Maple didn't care much for social standing, she was only eleven, she was still trying to get her head around how secondary school worked; he was just charming. A gentleman even by his age of thirteen at the time. They started as good friends, and then started dating two years after. Three years after maple fell pregnant at sixteen.

She had to admit, she expected him to leave her especially the things her foster mother was putting him through. Calling him every name under the sun. Trouble maker, thug, good for nothing, paedophile...that one hit the worse. That was the one that Maple screamed at Blessing for. Maple had to admit she yelled some awful things at the woman.  
"That's not how the law works you stupid bitch!" She remembered shouting at the woman, taking not only her by surprise, but everybody else as well. Of course she didn't stop there either.  
"Just because you don't agree doesn't make it illegal! You don't know anything about this place! You're only here because your husband got you a green card; go home back to Congo!"...that made the house silent. That made Maple swallow hard and leave the room. That one thing tore Maple's and Blessings in two, and has since been unable to recover.

Maple shifted uncomfortably on the floor as she remembered the conversation, holding the small teddy in her hands in her lap. Her brows knitted together, fingers gripping the teddy more. She felt like a brat...acted like one too. Why she continued letting Maple live there for as long as she did was beyond her. Why Robert didn't break up with her there and then for disrespecting the closet thing she'd have to a mother figure was beyond her. Everything didn't make sense to her at that young, impressionable age of Sixteen.

The woman was jogged out of her thoughts by the whiskers of the kitten touching her fingers, patting her finger with its paw wanting to play. Maple dragged her eyes away from the teddy and towards the kitten. She giggled in her throat and tore her hand away from the grey bear.  
"Oh Paddle, do you think I'm bad?" She questioned the kitten, wiggling her fingers in front of it. Paddle knelt down and wiggled his bum, then launched towards her fingers. Maple remembered reading somewhere that animals didn't socialise with people who they felt were dark or unkind. It reassured Maple that maybe she wasn't as bad as she now got herself believing.

Taking a deep breath, the brunette sat up from the floor and stretched out her arms above her head, the teddy falling into the floor on it's side. She untied the ponytail in her hair and re-tied it quickly, keeping small strands of hair tucked behind her ear.  
"Right, most of the unpacking is done, kitten booked into vets, Lizzie at school for the next…" she briefly looked at her watch "four hours, guess I'll start looking for work." She said to herself, rubbing a hand in her neck to work out the knots in the muscle.

She had to admit, as much as she loved Lizzie and loved having her around, she was glad for the few hours of silence she got. Maple was more excited about Lizzie going to school than Lizzie was! She was excited about the friends she'd make, the stories she'd learn, the logic she'll intake! Lizzie didn't want to go. Of course, Maple insured Lizzie was enrolled in a bilingual school. Unlike her mother, who knew Afrikaans thanks to her foster mother, and Japanese thanks to her cousin, Lizzie had no understanding of any other language but English. This made things slightly harder but Maple was always sure to teach her new things.

What Maple was truly excited about was the uniform. Sure they had uniforms back home, but she always found these cute. Lizzie's new uniform was made up of a dark blue sailor dress with white sailor cuffs and collar. White socks up to the knee and black shoes, topped with a dark blue hat. It was adorable! At least, according to Maple who had taken the liberty of taking one hundred plus photos of her daughter in the uniform before leaving for school. That didn't make her first day being taken to school any easier.

 _Lizzie cried when they got to the school yard, the teachers beginning to whistle the students in. Maple got onto one knee and reassuringly smiled at her, reassuring her it would be okay. A teacher had to eventually come over and ask what's wrong.  
_ " _Oh, just telling Lizzie she'll be okay." Maple said to the teacher, over the sniffles of her daughter. She remembered turning her attention back to Lizzie, keeping the smile on her face.  
_ " _Is this Lizzie Ranger? Our lovely new student we've heard much about?" The teacher questioned, bending down slightly and putting her hands onto her knees, a smile on her face. Lizzie of course nodded her head and tried getting close to her mother. Oh how much Maple wanted to take her hand, tell her "it's okay we'll try again another day" and take her home. But she knew she couldn't. She had to let go. Maple turned her attention back to the child.  
_ " _Lizzie, why don't you go with this nice lady? She knows you're new and will help you okay?" Maple explained to her, placing both her hands onto her shoulders._

Maple sighed to herself. She'd have to make sure to do something extra special for her after school, maybe pick up for melon bread as a treat seeing as Lizzie would rather have that than chocolate at the moment.

~•~

A few simple clicks on the small Chromebook and like that another application sent into cyberspace. Maple had applied for about twenty jobs in Domino city alone, she would look further if she needed to but ideally didn't want to. It would be hard to try and arrange times to get off work to go pick up Lizzie, while yes she could ask Duke she didn't want to rely on him constantly. He had his own life to live, that life wasn't picking up her kid.

The brunette stretched her arms above her head, yawning as she stretched her neck, making sure to get out those knots that never truly left. The lack of financial security was draining her, she knew she needed something fast; the money she saved would only take her so far and she didn't want Blessing waiting for her back in England with that "I told you so" look on her face. She had to admit, she didn't realise how expensive it would all be when she decided that her and her daughter needed a fresh start.

Maple sighed and decided that finishing the unpacking was not a bad thing to do. She got herself off the floor and walked over to a few boxes that sat neglected in the front living space. It wasn't a big space, but good enough for the two of them. She decided it would be time to open the sealed box, the box she didn't want to disturb but also couldn't help but feel curious about. Richards box. She grunted to herself, it was silly having a box dedicated to someone who was no longer around, however it was more of a comfort thing to her, after all his ashes were still back in England and as much as Maple wanted to she could not bring them here. They were far too important to his parents, she respected that. She did her research, she discovered that most Japanese families had a picture and some incense for a deceased loved one so maybe she could look into doing that.

Taking a deep breath, she gently punctured the tape that held the box together and sliced open the sellotape. It wasn't dusty, but why should it have been? It was only packed not too long ago. Maple had forgotten she packed a lot of this, a few collected top trump cards that he kept dear, a picture of them together with Lizzie when she was only just a tot at London's Sea Life Centre. Nestled into a corner was a box stuffed with different nicknacks, things like his old jewellery that his parents let her keep. Something glinted under that jewellery, something Maple did not remember packing. Raising an eyebrow at it she moved the chain and rings away, placing them down onto the wooden floor and dug out the item.

A sealed video. She hadn't seen a tape for years, did she even remember to bring the old tape player?...And how did she still have a sealed video tape? They stopped making them years ago and there was not a tape that remained sealed in her house, and yet here it was. There was no label on the black plastic housing, just a big white sticky label lazily placed on with Richard's hand writing stating "For Maple...for when you're ready."...Ominous! She sat staring at the tape for a good solid minute. Suddenly she pushed herself up with enough force to make herself step backwards, dropping the sealed tape in the process with a clunk as it landed on a corner then fell flat. She jogged quickly into her room.

She had to have packed up the video player, something told her she did but she couldn't remember. A lot of Lizzie's disney films were still on the tape, some of Lizzie's favourites like Oliver and Company; all hell would break loose if Lizzie wasn't able to watch that at least once on the weekends! The brunette dug through the various boxes, tossing things over her shoulders recklessly. A small squeak was heard, making the woman quickly look over her shoulder, half her hair in her face. The kitten, Paddle, had been hit by a pillow and was currently trying to chew the thing for striking him. Maple sighed through her nose and turned her attention back to the box. Sitting at the bottom, covered in something sticky and sweet smelling, was a black box.

Frowning, Maple picked up the device. On the front was a big flap, various buttons such as play, record, rewind, fast forward...this was it! But what was that sticky stuff? Curiosity got the better of her, she brought the sticky substance to her nose and took a big sniff. She instantly pushed the device away from her and puffed put her cheeks. Banana...old, rotten, sticky banana, possibly from a dessert Lizzie had many many years ago and just never told her that it split. Maple hated Banana, how this thing got through customs was beyond her! She placed the device down and looked into the box some more, she found the cable however for starters it was a British three pong plug, so it wouldn't fit in the Japanese sockets, and two, the cable had a massive split in the case exposing the wires inside. Not only would it not work it was down right dangerous, and she had to admit she was not confident in mending electrical equipment.. Sighing, Maple tossed the cable back into the box, she would need to get a new cable but for now she needed to clean off that gross substance.

Maple sat on the floor, leaning back onto her hands as she stared at the ceiling. One the up side, there was something new for her left behind by Richard, on the down side, the message to begin with was ominous and Maple wasn't sure if she was ready to face that sort of challenge. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and pinched the bridge of her nose to stop the tears forming, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. She had to do it, she needed to watch that tape and see what was on it. The curiosity would eat her from the inside otherwise.

~•~

The brunette looked through the store windows as she wondered Domino high street. She still had some time before she needed to pick up Lizzie, it was better to get this out of the way now than trying to drag a four year old into every store going, having her pick up everything then possibly throw a tantrum because she couldn't bring something home.

She stopped in front of a second hand store, all sorts of gadgets and electrical equipment displayed proudly in the window, some with labels saying offer and some stating "Brand new"; in what sense she wasn't sure but she liked the idea of finding something brand new in a second hand shop. Her eyes darted around the window, allowing the woman to take a deep breath to go into the store. She wish she knew why she was so nervous, it was just a store after all; she's been in plenty! Maybe it was because from what she could see through the small gaps between the items in the window the store looked dim lit. Dim lit stores were never good in her eyes. Having lived in Medway it was some sort of unpleasant being lurking in the shadows of the stores, eyeing up what someone may have.

Maple took another deep breath and turned her body around, her gaze locked onto the window. That was until she felt herself collide with something and land flat on her backside, her arms locking themselves at the shoulders to stop her head striking the pavement. She could hear the people stop walking and small whispers filling the air. The brunette closed her eyes tightly, landing on her tailbone and grazing her elbows bought a shock to the system.  
"I'm sorry, Maple; are you okay?" A voice asked, making her look up at the body she had hit. Her green eyes met a pale hand and then travelled to the face of its owner. It was the familiar white head that she had met and for the lord of her she couldn't remember his name. She would have to play it cool for a while until something sparked his name or he just repeated it naturally. Nodding her head she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up.  
"Yeah I'm fine! Wasn't looking where I was going so my own fault." The brunette replied, giving him a small smile, then giving her elbows a sore rub at the sudden twinge of discomfort. The white hair man knitted his brows together, looking at her elbows before looking back to her. Maple raised her eyebrows slightly at him, and turned her arms around to look at her elbows, then shrugged her shoulders.  
"I'll live." She reassured, dropping her arms back to her side.  
"Anyway!" She began loudly, "What brings you to this part of the woods?" She asked the man, keeping the small smile on his face. He thought for a second before replying to her, giving her a small smile that was more nervous than anything. It made Maple think he was naturally a timid person, she learned a little bit about him a week ago, but other than that he had been a mystery and if anything she hadn't really put much thought into it, she didn't have a reason to.  
"I was just heading home from work." He simply replied, earning an "aahh" from the brunette, who then raised an eyebrow slightly at him questionably, making the timid man somewhat on each. She eyed him briefly, he was dressed down in a simple blue button shirt and white male cardigan and some jeans with smart black dress shoes. His work place was either very lenient in dress code, or he bought extra clothes with him which now that she thought about it was not a bad idea.  
"...I forgot where you work." She said to him apologetically, dropping the eyebrow. The man let go of the breathe he didn't realise his chest held. But he kept that simple, small smile on his face, never letting the shyness falter his look.  
"It's fine. It's the museum; what about you?" He told her, then asked her. Maple frowned grimly at the question, pulling a face at the question.  
"I'm still looking...HEY! Do you know anywhere that needs a qualified make-up artist?!" She asked him excitedly, face full of hope. He shook his head, breaking that hope in an instant. "No? Okay never mind." She said to him, pulling the face again.

She turned her attention back to the second hand store, then turned her attention back to the white haired man. If he was friends with her cousin, then he must be a decent bloke, and with that in mind she asked him, "Can you come in here with me? I'm looking for something and I'll be honest the store looks dank." She said him, the Medway lingo slipping out into her volcalbury. Something she prided herself on was that she actually know how to pronounce words, but sometimes it just slipped out. The man stared at her briefly, then nodded his head to show he'd join her. Maple grinned widely at him and turned around quickly to go into the store, inches away from slamming herself into the door until it opened inwards and she ended up slamming into another person instead, catching a strong smell of tobacco smoke as if she hit sneezed into an ashtray. With a quick and very sore apology, the brunette walked into the store, the white haired man in toe.

It was like the tardis, small looking on the outside but the inside offered so much more, including a downstairs that hummed an instrumental version of _Gackt_. Maple could remember going through her emo stage in secondary school with her small group of friends. They also happened to be the Japanese geeks as well which always bought it's issues. She was glad she grew out of that, but more glad that she actually took the time to learn the language, as it was now useful.

The brunette walked slowly through the store, her hands touching things gently, timidly moving things off of another to see if she could find what she was looking for. The white watched her, wondering how exactly he could help apart from act like moral support for what she believed was a "dank" store.  
"What is it you're looking for?" He asked her, making her turn her attention to him.  
"A video tape player. I have one at home but I'll be honest, I don't know if it works, plus the cable is damaged; I thought maybe getting a new one entirely as a just in case or seeing if I can find a cable." She explained to him, maybe more than she should have as it wasn't like the information would be helpful at any given point to him nor did he really need to know if she was honest; but such was life as a barmaid, you just slipped as by nature you talked to keep people drinking and merry. The white haired man nodded his head either way, not letting the spill of information falter him.

Maple hummed to herself as she went over to the back of the store, lifting her arms up slightly to slide herself through two piles of clutter and leaving the white haired man to do the same with just as much ease. There was a lot of electronics here, very old composite TV's that had seen better days, old music cassette players that whined in static if you stuck a game into them. The brunette eyed them all quickly, her eyes slightly wide in awe. She didn't understand how they worked or why, but she certainly embraced the work that was put into them. Her hands gently pushed away small items of dust clad clutter, trying their best to not destroy whatever ecosystem the organised mess had created. The task would have been easier had she not gotten herself distracted by everything that looked interested. It was small things at first, old game boy pockets, small composite TV's and such. It then gradually altered to getting distracted by the big things, things like the stereo players and keyboards, which of course she had to press ALL the buttons to ensure it either did or did not work...most did not and then one that did earned a harsh "You break it you pay for it" yell from the other end of the store.

As Maple was busying herself with all the technically at hand, her white haired acquaintance had managed to find what she was after and was just enjoying her awing over the old technically from years ago. It was like watching someone discover something new. He cleared his throat, bringing up a balled up hand to his mouth to draw her attention. The brunette brought her head up to look at him, an old lamp held firmly in her hands, the tassels tangled into her fingers. She watched him silently for a moment, her eyes twitching close and then sneezed loudly into the lamp, blowing dust into her face, making a vicious cycle of sneezing, dust inhaling, and more sneezing. The white haired man laid the video player on top of an old side table and removed the lamp from the brunettes hands. A sheepish smile and a thank you left her mouth followed by a final sneeze into her arm. Once it was certain she would not sneeze again the pale man bought her attention to the item sitting on the table. She eyed the item for a split second before bending down slightly to look at it, and then looked back up to her acquaintance.  
"You found it! Thank you!" She said to him cheerfully, plastering a wide smile onto her face.

She held the item against her chest as her and the man whose name she still felt bad for not remembering walked down the street. She kept the wide smile on her face, that meant she could watch that tape! And yet...something told her not to. Something tugged in the corners of her mind, telling her not to watch leave it for maybe another month or so and then try again. Just don't do it now, just...don't. She didn't like the feeling of dread that filled her chest with these thoughts; it was just a tape after all, what could possibly be bad about it? She ruled out grieving, she was done with that, she had her time to grieve albeit it was short as she needed to be there for Lizzie, and help her while she wondered where her father had gone off too.  
"Why were you after a video player?" The white haired man asked curiously as they continued down the street slowly, just enjoying the company and the warm weather. His question jogged her out of her thoughts, making her turn her attention to him once more.  
"Lizzie has a lot of Disney tapes that I haven't gotten round to buying a DVD version for yet. So this will keep her happy." Maple said naturally; it wasn't a lie after all it was a part truth, just not her main reason for finding a new player. He accepted this reason though and left it at that.

Maple looked at the watch on her wrist, awkwardly bringing her arm up while keeping the clunky technology held securely in her arms. She'd need to be at the gates of the school soon to meet her daughter. Soon was around about twenty minutes. Turning her attention to her walking companion once more she wondered exactly how to word that it was time for her to leave without seeming ungrateful for his help however he beat her to the punch.  
"I should head off, I need to sort some home things out." He said to her, stopping in his tracks. Maple stopped a little bit ahead of him and turned herself to face him, taking in the words he spoke. She thought for a second, maybe it wasn't a bad idea to know someone in this place, someone else other than her cousin. Branch out, as people would suggest.  
"Not to sound like a creep, but would it be possible to get your number? Maybe when you're not busy with your work we could hang out again! But like at a coffee shop or something instead of a second hand store." Maple suggested to him, her fingers twitching against the tape player due to nervousness. She was only making a friend, so why be nervous? The seconds felt like minutes, her breathe released once he agreed to do so, saying that it'd be nice to have a friend to hang out with.

That made her happy. Someone to call a friend… she hadn't had one outside family for years.

~•~

Maple stood outside the school gates, waiting with many other parents for their children. She leaned against the gate with her arms crossed over her old technology, taking in all the faces that stood around her. Not many seemed to have come from a different country like her, she must have stood up like a sore thumb. She had to admit, it made her somewhat nervous. Did her little girl feel this nervous? Did she have a good day at school with all these new faces, new things? And what did they teach her? How to count? The beginnings of a new language? It was easy for Maple, she was bilingual, but Lizzie, Lizzie only knew English and she had to admit it worried her greatly on how she would get on as she got older only knowing one language.

The brunette heard the school bell ring and turned her attention over her shoulder, she could see the students start to come out of the school. Pushing herself off the gate she turned around to wait for her daughter properly, that precious item staying securely in her arms grip. She moved side to side, trying to get a good look for her child. She was relieved when she saw her and more importantly, she saw her talking enthusiastically with another little girl whose black hair was tied into a plate down her back. Maple's eyes lit up at the sight, it was amazing to see her make a friend with someone so fast! She could only assume it was because it was a new place, no one knew who she was here; she couldn't be bullied.

Lizzie trotted up to her mother enthusiastically, pointing excitedly at her new found friend. Maple watched her quietly, keeping the video player in her arms.  
"This is my new friend Ha Yoon! Can I please please please go round her house to play today?!" Lizzie asked , bouncing on her toes up and down the spot. So, she found someone else like her, not from this country. That must have made it a lot easier for her to socialise and integrate. Maple knitted her brows together, she was glad she found a friend, but this was very short notice for her. Lizzie continued her bouncing, occasionally looking over to Ha Yoon who was talking to her mother. Maple quickly looked over to the mother, who wore the same expression as hers, and then turned her attention to the little girl, whose excitement slowly died. She must have been told no. Maple turned her attention back to Lizzie, the little girl looking at her with hopeful eyes.  
"I'm sorry honey, it's very short notice." She said to her, bending down at the knee's to at least be somewhat her child's height. Lizzie's excitement died down just as quick as Ha Yoon, her eyes diverting to the ground.

Maple knitted her brows and stood up, shuffling the equipment into one arm and grabbing a hold of Lizzie's hand to take her over to the mother who was now trying to calm down her daughter. The pair stopped in front of the mother and crying child.  
"Are you Ha Yoon's mother?" Maple asked her, gaining the woman's attention. She nodded her head, giving an apologetic smile and then turned her attention back to Ha Yoon, saying something in Korean.  
"I'm Maple, I'm Lizzie's mum. I was thinking, would Ha Yoon like to have a playdate with Lizzie? On the Sunday of course." Maple asked, never giving a thought to the question, it just kind of slipped out. She should have just walked away after saying no it was too short notice, and try and will herself to watch this tape; but everything else was suddenly more important.

Ha Yoon has stopped her crying and looked up at her mother, Lizzie had looked up to her own mother, surprise covering her face. She hadn't had a playdate in her life and she was unsure what this would mean but it sure sounded fun! The mother stayed silent in thought for a few moments, making Maple instantly start regret asking. After all she was just a random person, never met before this moment and here she was asking if her child would to spend the day with her after they spent one good day with each other. After what seemed like minutes pass, the mother nodded her head.  
"Sure, I am sure Ha Yoon will enjoy it very much." She said to her, earning an excited gasp from the black haired child and a very bouncy Lizzie.

The pair exchanged their phone numbers, Ha Yoon's mother's name was Kyung Soon. A very quiet and well spoken woman. Maple had learned that they needed to walk the same road to get to their apartment blocks and enjoyed the conversation she had with her. She learnt that this woman's family moved to Domino city after her husband was offered a job at a big company called Kaiba Corp. The company had apparently offered to move the family as at the time they were facing financial hardship and couldn't afford the move otherwise. Maple learned that her husband was called Myung, he was trained in computer engineering and had often developed software back in college for laughs. They had parted their ways about ten minutes into the conversation, with Kyung Soon and Ha Yoon living to the west, and Maple and Lizzie living to the East. The mothers had agreed to meet up every morning for school so they could walk together.

The pair got themselves home quickly after that, Lizzie dashed into the house excited over all the space there was. Maple briefly held her breath wondering if she remembered to move Richard's box into her room, but this soon was released when she saw it didn't sit against the side of the wall anymore. She adult walked over to the television unit and placed the video player on top. Now she just needed to actually set up the television and that would be all set...maybe she could watch the Disney movies first before Richard's tape.  
"So what happened in school today? Apart from meeting Ha Yoon?" Maple asked her daughter, taking a seat on the floor and crossing her legs. Lizzie sat opposite her, thinking to herself over the day. Paddle stalked into the room and settled himself into Lizzie's little lap, making the child giggle and very gently scratch his head.  
"We learned how to count one to ten and we did a lot of games where we helped each other! Oh and I also got given a piece of paper, they want to take us to the museum next week on Monday and you need to sign it to say it's okay I can go." Lizzie said exactly, making Maple look at her questionably. Lizzie gently lifted the kitten from lap and placed it on the floor next to her. Standing up she rushed over to where her bag was dumped without a care. Maple watched her, and felt her phone buzz in her pocket. As Lizzie dumped her bags contents, Maple dragged her phone out from her jeans pocket and briefly looked at the screen.

Duke had texted her asking if she and Lizzie wanted to come along with him and Serenity to his friends shop. Maple was taken back, and instead of texting a yes or no, she had text "Are you sure? Lizzie will want to get into everything! Will your friend be okay with that?" And then left the phone next to her. Lizzie jogged over and held the scruffy looking permission slip in front of her. Gently, Maple took the paper and read it over. They wanted to do a class trip to the museum to teach them about dinosaurs. The exhibit was back this year, and they felt the children would learn a lot from this.  
"I don't see why not." Maple mumbled to herself and pushed herself off the floor, Lizzie's gaze following her. Maple wondered over to the discarded items that laid across the floor and turned her attention to Lizzie.  
"How about this, if you're good until Thursday when this needs to be filled in by, I'll sign the slip and you can go." Maple said to her, striking up the deal. She had no issues with Lizzie being good, but she needed time to gather up the spare ¥4100 that was being asked for. Maple could only assume this would cover packed lunch and the transport there. Not to mention on the bottom of the slip they were asking for volunteers to come along as well and while she didn't have a job interview she was hoping this factor would change.

Lizzie, being none of the wiser agreed to the conditions of going and immediately got to tidying up her things that she littered from her bag to show she could be a good girl. Maple smiled at her and walked into the kitchen, sticking the paper under a magnet. The child had never been on a class trip before, and Maple was hoping she'd enjoy going. The brunette wondered back into the living room, picking up her phone from off the floor just as the screen dimmed to black. Maple turned the thing back on. The message from Duke read "Of course he doesn't mind! He owns a Games shop, it's Yugi we're talking about, Lizzie will have plenty to do. Just come along, you need to make friends while you're here." Duke said to her, earning a small eye roll. She could make friends and she even made what seemed to be a couple today!  
"Lizzie we're going to Yugi's house!"

~•~

The pair arrived at the Kame game shop. Maple looked at the door that displayed the sign closed. She assumed that the door would be locked. Lizzie looked through the window, using her hands as deflectors for the sun as she peered through the stained glass.  
"Mummy look!" Lizzie said to her, gaining her mother's attention. Lizzie walked over and bent down to her level to try and see what she looked at. From what she could tell she was staring at a few cards that had been proudly displayed in the window. Duel Monster cards to be exact. Maple played, not much, but she did play. She wasn't very good at it if she was honest.  
"They're pretty!" Lizzie said excitedly to her, making Maple giggle.  
"You also don't know how to play." Maple retorted back to her. Lizzie huffed at her slightly before looking at everything else in the shop window.

Maple stood back up again and turned quickly on the balls of her feet so she could give the door a try, then slammed into someone for the third time today. Lizzie looked over to her mother when she heard her hit the ground somewhat hard as she had left out a small gasp.  
"That sounds like it hurt this time." The familiar voice spoke. Maple looked up at the hand, as if the scene had replayed from earlier today with a few new additions and new time of day. Like before, Maple accepted the help and pulled herself up, wincing at the sharp pain shooting up her spine.  
"It's fine, I'll just have a bath and that should fix it." Maple commented, turning her attention to Lizzie. The child was already by her side and stared up at the white haired man, giving him a small wave. The man waved back kindly and just as she was about to speak, the door jingled grabbing their attention.  
"Nice for you three to make it, Maple, Lizzie, Bakura." Yugi said to them, giving them a kind and wide smile.

Bakura...that was his name.

Maple just chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. Lizzie bounced in front of her waving enthusiastically.  
"Hi!" She said cheerfully, earning a cheerful hello in return. Yugi stood away from the door allowing the three of them to come in. Lizzie bounded in, looking around excitedly at everything, she was soon followed by Maple and Bakura. Maple knitted her brows and looked at Yugi questionably.  
"Are you sure you're okay with us being here?" She asked him, expecting him to have second thoughts and send them off. She was used to that, that was most people's response. They rather send the young mother home and keep her and her child out of sight than deal with a possibly inexperienced parent and her hyper child. Yugi nodded his head however, taking her by surprise as he closed the door after them and turned the lock.  
"It's fine, why wouldn't it be?" He said reassuringly to her. Maple, although grateful, was speechless. She stayed silent as she watched Lizzie look at the board games that were her height. She watched as Yugi, a man she hadn't known for long grab her daughters attention, telling her they had that board game in the house and pointing to the door that stayed closed; a door Maple could only assume led to his personal living space as the building was two floors high. She watched as Lizzie ran excitedly into the room after Yugi opened the door for her, only to be greeted with cheerful smiles and a strong hug from her uncle.

And all she could do was stand speechless.  
"You alright?" Bakura questioned next to her, jogging her out of her thoughts. Maple looked up at him and nodded her head, giving him a small smile.  
"I'm fine! Tailbone just aches that's all." She told him, shrugging it off. Bakura gave an apologetic look but didn't comment further on it. She turned her attention to Yugi who stood calmly by the door that led to his living space.  
"You alright? You seem taken back." He commented. Maple nodded her head, giving him a grin. If the Tri-coloured man doubted this, he hid it well as he accepted the answer regardless. Truth be told, Maple was taken back. She wasn't used to this kind of treatment, she was used to the stares and glares from people whenever Lizzie ever as much as made an excited noise for something. Young mothers such as herself were not held highly in Medway, they were frowned upon and if you were to be one you were labelled a slut; regardless how it happened. Maple took it all on the chin, she learned to ignore the stares, and learned to shield her daughter from them. It seemed different here and Maple was still learning that. For her daughter, nothing but where they lived had changed. She followed the tri-haired man into the living area, saying hello to the people who were there.

Lizzie was busying herself with her uncle and soon to be aunt over a board game that Yugi has said they had in the back. Maple sat herself down next to the brunette girl on the couch, pulling a slight face but shrugging it off. A bath will cure that, she just needed to tell herself that repeatedly for the next few hours and it'll be true! She was terrible with names and could only hope it wasn't picked up on. The brunette smiled at her giving her a small hello as Maple returned the favour. Bakura had taken himself off to talk with Yugi over something, they seemed close.  
"How you finding it here?" The brunette next to her asked. Maple turned her attention to her.  
"It's nice! Everyone is friendly if I'm honest...It's new." Maple honestly told her, looking over to Lizzie who was enjoying the game of _Go For Broke_. Admittedly the game board was in Japanese, but that's why Duke was helping her play as a team against Joey and his pointed hair friend. The only reason she even remembered his name was because she rooted for him in Tournaments back in England.  
"I'll be honest, Medway isn't this friendly. Not even polite. A lot of swearing and robberies, not to mention you weren't in good light if your my age and have a kid. But that's different here, either people are too polite to say something or they generally don't care; I'll take either." Maple said to her, before realising she was talking a lot and shook her head. "Sorry, I waffled. How are you doing?" She said to her, plastering a grin on her face. The brunette however didn't seem to mind and continued the conversation as normal. Maple didn't notice Yugi or Bakura coming back to the group.

A few hours passed, Lizzie had found herself getting tired and had cuddled up to her mother on her lap. Maple on the other hand was enjoying herself, talking to all these people whose names she was going to do her hardest to remember. She briefly looked down at Lizzie, seeing she had nodded off asleep and then turned her attention back to the group again. Duke had always said his friends were nice, and they were certainly proving to be; all smiles and being cheery as if nothing in the world mattered. She had to ask.  
"Can...I ask a favour?" She asked them, gaining their attention. The silence crept into her soul and made her shiver. Would it be rude to ask? The curiosity of the tape was getting to her, eating into the back of her mind. She needed to watch it, force herself to if need be. The woman took in a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling.  
"I have a tape I need to watch but...I'm nervous. It's from my ex-partner, this ones dad; I'll be honest I can't do it on my own and I get if this is too much as we don't know each other a lot." Maple said to them, her eyes darting everywhere but where they needed to be. The silence filled the room again. The silence that crept into her very soul and took over whatever functions her body did without thought. She knew this would be too much to ask, even if they were as kind as Duke said.  
"Of course we can." Her cousin replied, breaking the silence that seemed to haunt the room for ever. Maple turned her attention to him, shock written on her face.  
"We may not know each other long, but we're friends. We've got to be there for each other." Tea said to her, giving her a gentle nudge into her side to gain her attention.

And like before with Yugi when they entered the shop; she was speechless. A feeling that she wasn't used to being around for a long time.

Millions of thoughts trampled through Maple's head. How could these people, who it was evident spent many years with each other, just welcome someone into their small group with such ease, as if welcoming an old friend. It didn't make sense to her but at the same time, she didn't want it to change. It was a welcome surprise for her  
"Thank you. You're all too kind." Maple said to them, beaming a bright smile at them.

~•~

That day had come. The day that her new found friends said they'd come over and watch this tape with her. Maple had arranged for Wednesday, a time when they were all off from work or could close up shop easily to come around. She had taken Lizzie home, made a quick meal and tucked her into bed that evening. She took a long bath, which seemed to help her tailbone a little bit but not enough to stop the ache. Maple hoped she hadn't broke that one. She did everything that evening to busy herself, made things that were instantly more important to attend to than preparing herself for this tape. The day before today was even more productive. Lizzie was dropped into school, she went for a quick coffee with Kyung Soon to take her mind off things and get to know her more. She asked questions about Ha Yoon, like what was her favourite foods and if she was allergic to anything so she knew exactly what to get in the shopping for the play date. She even managed to begin her make-up portfolio, using herself as the model.

Even in that time she managed to scrounge up the money for Lizzie's trip. Sure she had to sell a few items she never used or hadn't used for a long time but they sold incredibly well. There was a collector of foriegn objects in town and he caught wind of Maple selling some items from England. He gave her more than she offered and that was that sorted. She had signed and hidden away Lizzie's permission slip, planning to use it as a surprise tonight after school to quickly hand to her teachers. She managed to get a job interview at another bar scheduled for tomorrow with a possible start for Thursday in a weeks time once their current barmaid leaves, so she had that to look forward to.

Everything was more important than that tape and yet the day could not take the hint and crept up on her quickly. In an hour her new found friends would be round and they would be discovering what type of man Richard was, and what he had to say that was so important and could only wait until "She was ready."

Maple hung around in the small kitchen, nursing the coffee that was slowly turning cold but remained full. A knock on the door brough Maple out of her thoughts. She looked over at the door briefly and placed the coffee down onto the counter. Rushing to the door she peeked through the peephole. Yugi and Tea along with Joey stood outside. The brunette opened the door to let them in, and thanked them for coming round, asking them to make themselves at home. She offered them drinks and got what they had asked for from the things she offered.  
"How ya feelin?" Joey asked her as she sat on the floor crossing her legs over. Maple shrugged her shoulders.  
"Nervous...It's just a tape but…" She began saying, her sentence trailing off unable to finish it.  
"It's fine don't worry. We understand." Tea reassured her as the door knocked once more. Maple gave a small nod and stood up off the floor, letting in Tristian, Bakura, Duke and Serenity. That seemed to be all that could make the commitment. Like before, Maple offered drinks and got what they wanted from what she had.  
"It looks nice now that you've unpacked." Duke commented looking around with his hands stuffed in his pockets.  
"I know right? It's actually quite spacious, big enough for me and little'en. I'm glad I found it." Maple said as she stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. She was having second thoughts about this. Her palms started to become clammy, her mind going through what they could do instead but Maple knew she needed to get this out of the way. She needed to see what was on that tape.

So she took another breath and held it. Five...Four...Three...Two...One...Release.

"Right...let's get this over with." She tried to mumble to herself but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.  
"Are you sure you want to?" Tristian asked her, making her stop for a second. She could tell they could pick up on something, nobody acted this way over a tape recording. As far as they were aware, Richard had just gone away and the only people who knew he was dead was Duke and Serenity. Maple swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and nodded her head. She turned her attention to them all.  
"I think I should go over some history first, as to why this is hard." She told them and quickly wondered into the kitchen to grab her coffee. Taking a big gulp from the lukewarm drink she calmed her nerves. She went over the words in her mind, the mental battle becoming obvious to those in her house who were telling her that she can leave it another day; but Maple was stubborn. They were here now might as well do it.  
"Richard is, gone. Not as in he'll be back gone, gone gone. He's been dead for two years now." Maple explained to them. The room stayed silent, allowing Maple to continue. "He died, shortly after Lizzie's second birthday. He was killed by a mad man, they never caught the guy. He was alone that night, I regret so, so much. He died alone and he shouldn't have done." Maple paused, her throat becoming dry as the memory from the police turning up on their doorstep arrived that evening telling her what happened. Lizzie tucked into bed, and Maple falling onto her knees sobbing that her boyfriend would not be coming home. She felt physically sick that day.

Everything flooded back, Maple forced the tears that threatened to escape her eyes back, blinking hard. Maple took a deep breath, gripping the cup in her hands hard. She didn't notice the small sounds of china cracking, and only realised her cup was gone once she opened her eyes and saw that Bakura had removed the mug and placed it back down into the kitchen. A reassuring arm around her shoulder from her cousin fully brought her back from the thoughts of that day.

Another deep breath. Another countdown. Another few seconds...minutes..years. She didn't continue her story, they all knew the rest. They knew she hadn't told Lizzie yet, now they knew why. Maple took one last breath before speaking once more.  
"I'll get the tape, just bare with me." She said, her voice shaky. There was no whispers in her home; that would be rude to the host but Maple wouldn't blame them if they wanted to. She found the tape in the box of his things and gently peeled back the plastic wrap that kept it in new condition. Maple came back into the living space; her group of friends wondering if she'd be okay. She gave them a weak smile and knelt down in front of the tape player.  
"I'm not sure what's on this tape or if it'll even work. The tape player does because it played _Toy Story_ last night, the movie maybe old but I don't think that will kill the player." Maple said as a clunk from the device was heard. She scooted herself back on the floor and sat cross legged, leaning her elbows on her knees.

The beginnings of the tape was fuzzy, it took a moment for the picture to clear up. Sitting there, in front of the PC webcam was Richard. The messy blonde hair that stood spiked up everywhere. It couldn't be tamed no matter how much he tried. The bright grey eyes looking at the webcam. He was in their spare room at the time, the room what filled with bookcases and a spare bed for if they had friends round. Richard at this time was doing his apprenticeship to be a dental assistant. He still wore his dentist whites.  
"It's been a while...probably. Depends when you've decided to watch this old thing." He said, his voice as clear as day. His eyes darted everywhere before settling back onto the camera. Maple felt as if the room was empty. She knew her friends were there, but she felt so alone...as if this place just had her sitting there, looking for some comfort that may never come.  
"I'll just cut straight to it. This is a family secret, that I think you should know. Lizzie maybe a Sensitive." Richard said on the video tape. He looked around curiously, before looking back at the camera. Maple knitted her brows together, she's never heard of those before. She thought for a second Richard was making a joke about Lizzi being an overly sensitive child at the time.  
"A sensitive is someone who is mildly psychic. It runs in my family, it's a little hit and miss." He continued, wiping his bottom lip with his thumb. Sighing, Richard scratched the area behind his ear.  
"My nana was a Sensitive...I'm a Sensitive… Lizzie may or may not be a Sensitive. If she is it could become clear tomorrow, or even years down the line." Richard continued once more making Maple stare in disbelief. So it wasn't a crase dig at their daughter's personality. He was being serious. The look in his grey eyes said he was being serious.

Maple let the tape continue, it was another thing watching Richard as if he was still around. He must have known something. Maple felt little paws on her thigh and then a warm mass in the nook if her knee. Paddle had decided curling up there was a good idea.  
"If she's a Sensitive, she'll be scared. She'll be able to see things no one else can, like small snippets of the future or past and as she grows older they'll become more and more powerful…I won't be around to tell her that." Richard continue, the pause indicating it must have been hard to say. The woman watched as his brows knitted together more, a deep breath was taken and then slowly let out through his nose. He turned his attention away from the camera, his eyes avoiding the lens. Maple continued watching. How was she meant to wrap her head around this information? What did any of this mean?  
"I won't be around for much longer...if you've found this tape chances are I'm already gone. I just…wish I knew how to prevent my death." He summed up quietly, running his hands through his hair. A sigh escaping his lips as he leaned back in the chair, staring briefly at the ceiling and turning his attention to the camera once more.

Just as Richard was about to continue, a younger Lizzie ran into the room and up to him, grabbing his attention. Richard looked down at her and picked her up from the floor, looking at her sadly and then sat her on his lap. He stayed quiet for a minute while Lizzie giggled and reached forward to touch the lens, the focus blurring because of the new object.  
"I'll have to go now, but my mum will know so much more. Please, look after Lizzie and look after yourself. Become happy when I'm gone, keep moving forward, do not linger in the past, it won't be good for you or Lizzie. There's a world out there and it's worth living, you just have to move forward. They say the hardest thing to ever do is let go and you'll think I'm mad for even suggesting it but it'd be selfish of me to expect you to never move on." He said to the camera once more, playing a little with Lizzie's hands, who was more interested in watching a butterfly that had flown into the room and fluttered about trying to get out.  
"You're an amazing mother, if you haven't told this one already do so. You'll both be better for it. I love you." He said to the camera, turning his attention to Lizzie once more, and plastering his best cheerful smile to her as to not raise concern with their young one.  
"Say bye bye Lizzie." He said to her, pointing his finger at the camera. Lizzie looked at the camera for a second before waving enthusiastically at the camera, a wide smile on her face.  
"Bye bye Wissie!" She pronounced, earning a small chuckle from her father. He reached forward, and hit a button ending the recording.

Like that the recording ended. Static filled the room as the tape stopped playing with a click. Maple sat in silence, they all sat in silence. She tried to process the information that was just given to her, but she was failing. All she could feel was her face becoming wet and this new information that was now passed onto her just made her confused. There was only one thing Maple knew for certain right now, and that was that she wasn't over grieving.

The sound of coughing and a hand over her mouth she tried her best to silence her weeping but that was impossible and instead only made them louder.

* * *

 _Apologies that this is so late. I've had a lot happen. But I have now moved house myself with my other half, and now have time to write again. I kinda have an idea how I want this to go, I have a better experience writing as I go. It falls nicely that way for me._


	3. A day in the museum

Sounds of coughing and retching came from the bathroom, the gentle murmurs and occasional pats on the back could be heard, while the living room stayed eerily silent. The brunette had up and left for the bathroom a few minutes ago leaving the group of friends she had invited over to help her through this sitting in her living room, concerned for her well-being as well as what exactly her late partner actually meant.

The group of friends were no strangers to spirits, having dealt with numerous ones in their lifetime. Some friendly, like Atem, and others not so friendly, like King Thief Bakura; both of which were no longer around. So it wasn't hard for them to believe that this man, this Robert, said was actually true. His video seemed sincere. His mind must have been going a million miles per minute. Knowing that he was going to die and by how he was acting in the video, he either didn't know how or how to stop it.

Then there was Maple. Duke had kept what happened quiet after the first night she and her daughter had came to Domino. Only he and Serenity had actually known what happened. Currently it was Serenity sitting in the bathroom with her while she was being sick, turned out the woman had some sort of anxiety sickness according to Duke and he could understand why this would make her anxious on top of everything else. Bakura had gone into the kitchen to make some tea, Duke said she liked tea and chances are there would be a lot of it in the cupboards of different variants ranging from needing to calm down to sleep help. Tea was the first person to say anything in the quiet room.  
"Is this the first time she's grieved?" Tea asked him although she already knew the answer. Duke shrugged his shoulders, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't sure. He could remember her connecting him once she found out but that was really it as far as he knew.

Duke remember how she called him on Skype. She was panicky, red in the face and eyes puffy. It was hard for her to get words out and when she did it was a sputter of "Robert's dead!" The only time he had seen her that upset was when her and Blessing had that falling out that he regretted deeply.  
"I think she just concentrated on keeping Lizzie happy. Lizzie was only just over two years old when Robert passed; Maple panicked and started to lie to her saying that he'd come back; keeping up the lie must be catching up on her." Duke said to them, leaning himself against the window seal of the apartment block. Bakura had came out from the kitchen and briefly looked around, but once he saw no sign that she had emerged from the bathroom yet, he sat back down on the couch nursing the cup in his hands.  
"I think this would be a good wake up call for her if I'm honest. It sounds harsh but...I don't think she ever did grieve or try and move on. I think he's done her a favour with that tape." Duke continued, looking back at the static filled screen.

The group turned silent once more, unsure how to continue with the conversation. Duke checked the clock in the room. Lizzie would be released from school soon and Maple was clearly in no state to go and pick her up.  
"I'm going to get Lizzie and take her to the park. That should give you guys enough time to figure out something." Duke said to them. He wasn't as clued up with spirits as they were and had some sort of disbelief that they were even real. So a dead man speaking about how his family has some sort of connection to the unnatural only raised his back. The others waved their goodbyes to Duke as he left the house to pick up his niece.

Duke loved his cousin, of course he did; but he wasn't the best at emotional support. They hadn't seen each other for years, and it felt awkward to him to comfort someone he hadn't seen while for Serenity it was natural. So it was better to leave his Fiancé to deal with his hysterical cousin while he went and picked up that little niece of his and take her to the park, he was better suited at that, at least this way he could try and form some sort or relationship with the pair again.

The living room went stayed silent, there were so many questions to be asked and yet they knew there would be no answer to it yet. Joey stood up from his perched spot on the back of the couch and walked over to the bathroom. The others watched silently, whispering among themselves. They watched the blonde knock on the door gently.  
"Sis, how is e'erythin' goin' in der?" The man asked. The door opened, Serenity's hand on the knob. He peered in, catching that Maple and sat herself down on the closed toilet seat, leaving her head in her hands; hair scrunched in between her fingers. It must have been mental turmoil for her.  
"I got her to calm down a little." Serenity said to him in a whisper. Joey nodded his head and quickly turned his attention to her once she got up. She muttered an "excuse me" and gently pushed her way past him and back towards the living area. The group stayed silent as they watched her kneel herself down in front of the video tape player again. With a click the tape ejected and Maple was promptly putting it into the remnants of the plastic wrap it was found in.

She stayed on the floor for a while more, just trying to get her head around what had happened. Taking in a deep breathe for god knows how many times time she released it through her nose and ran her hand through her hair.  
"Do any of you believe in this kind of stuff? Things like Sensitives? Do you think his pulling a fast one? Like some kind of joke, a really bad joke but a joke? I'm not amused!" Maple said to them, shuffling herself around to face them all. She was surprised to see all of them all lookg serious about what had happened, even more surprised to have a cup of tea handed to her from Bakura, who just gave a calm smile and sat back down on the couch again. Maple eyed it warily and sniffed it quickly, smelt like Chamomile. Someone raided her cupboards but she was not in the mood to protest.  
"It seems like he was panicked in the tape, someone being able to see into the future or past isn't out of the realm of possibilities." Yugi spoke up. Maple nodded her head taking a small sip of her tea. Peering around the room, the brunette noticed her cousin wasn't about. She looked at the group questionably.  
"He went to pick up Lizzie and take her to the park." Tristian spoke up for the first time since being in the house. Maple nodded her head understanding.

She excused herself from the room briefly, placing the cup onto the floor. She used her hands to wipe her eyes and then her nose. The group watched her and just as quickly as she left she came back again with her Chromebook. She sat herself between the legs of Yugi and Tea, crossing her own. She needed to do this now, while it was still fresh in her mind and she could process it.  
"Thank you for the tea, by the way Bakura." Maple said to him, turning her attention to him briefly and giving him a thankful smile. The white haired man nodded his head. Nothing more needed to be said. She turned her attention back to the screen again.  
"I need to tell Lizzie the truth tonight, but first I need to talk to her grandparents. He said they'd know more, I need as much information as possible so I know what to expect." Lizzie said to them as she logged into the machine and loaded up Skype. The group watched quietly at the screen, acting more as emotional support at this point. Joey and Tristan and found themselves leaning on the back of the chair watching the screen while Yugi, Tea and Bakura sat on the couch and Serenity sat herself next to Maple between Tea and Bakura's legs.  
"You going to be okay?" Tea asked the brunette, who nodded in return but couldn't bare to bring herself to say anything.

A few clicks and soon the Skype call began. It'd be around about 11PM in England right now, Maple could only hope they were still awake. To her surprise they were, which made things easier.  
"Maple? My goodness dear it's been a long time! How did the move go?" The woman asked, waving at the camera. The couple were both blonde, the woman having brown eyes and the husband having grey. It was obvious to see that Richard looked like a younger version of his dad. Maple smiled weakly at the pair and quickly introduced her friends, explaining that the move went well and that her and Lizzie were settling in nicely.  
"I actually have a question to ask, it's regarding Richard, or more really like your family line." Maple said to them, bringing them to a silence. She took that as an indication to continue. "Richard said that he was a Sensitive, someone that could see the past and future. You see I just found a tape he made for me and that's how I found out." Maple said to them, earning a sigh from his mother. His father muttered something to his wife about going to bed and letting her handle it.  
"He meant he was sensitive to picking up these things. What he means is a Psychic but it's such a broad term and it covers many different things ranging from timelines to ghosts and such." She said to her, her face stern and informative. Maple stayed quiet along with the rest of the group allowing her to continue. "Our family line is known for being psychic, more importantly being able to tap into past or future timelines to see what happened or what will happen. It can be frightening." His mother continued explaining to them.

Maple took in the information. So he did use the wrong term and had used it incorrectly, but everything else he had said made sense. She however needed to know more and turned her full attention back to Richard's mother.  
"How will I know if Lizzie is one? Richard said she might be." Maple asked her. Richard's mother stopped and thought for a second, not entirely sure how to answer that question. She hummed to herself a little, looking at the ceiling of their home.  
"If she's anything like Richard, it'll start off as scary dreams. If she's anything like her great grandmother, she'll complain there's someone else in the room when there isn't it's hard to tell, it depends on which string has been sewn into her." She said, her face falling soft and sympathetic. "Richard never took his gift seriously so it never developed properly. If he left a tape for you, then something must have spooked him enough to take it seriously. It's just a shame it happened too late." She said to her, earning a small nod in agreement from the brunette. Maple hummed to herself before deciding it would be best to let the grandmother go. She thanked her for the information, promising to call her at a better time next time and wished her goodnight.

Sighing, she closed the Chromebook lid, taking in all the information. That gave her some answers, but not as many as she was hoping and she wondered if Richard knew that. Still, the information whirled in her head, making her hum slightly as she slid the Chromebook underneath the sofa to keep it out of sight. She was alone with this, that much she knew; while her friends said that they knew about this kind of stuff she didn't want to really involve them heavily. Something in her gut told her to avoid that. That and she didn't want to keep introducing people Lizzie's life and then they leave because things got too weird.  
"What are you thinking about?" Tristan asked her gaining her attention. Maple looked up at him, leaning the back of her head onto the couch.  
"Just working out how to tell Lizzie, that's all." She said to him, aware that it was a small lie, but she couldn't just say that "Whelp, I'm going to deal with my potentially psychic child alone will call if I need emotional support again thanks." that would be rude.

~•~

Duke had been and gone, he brought Lizzie home, said she had a good time in the park. Maple showed her the filled in permission slip and tucked it into her bag so she wouldn't forget to hand it in and had helped Lizzie with the first bit of homework she bought home. Before the group of friends left after reassuring her to call if she needs anything and they'll come to help and that they will be there for her, she learned that Bakura was going to be the one in charge of her child's class tour of the museum and just like her he seemed quite surprised by this. He said that "I knew I would be showing a class around, I guess it's just luck that it's Lizzie's." That meant Monday would be easier for her as she was one of the parents volunteering and since the class will be free to go home after the trip Maple thought it'd be nice for the three of them to grab a coffee, or in Lizzie's case some juice, and just have a general chat. Get to know him more so she could have more friends about outside her parent life.

Lizzie had just finished her dinner and was playing a game. Maple watched her from the kitchen doorway. Her arms crossed as she leaned against her arm on the frame. She had to tell her. If she knew, they could mourn and as Richard said "move on." The brunette wasn't sure how ready she was to do that, at the same time it had been two years and Maple knew that if she didn't do it now she'd never do it.

She took a deep breath and pushed herself off the doorframe. She walked slowly up behind her daughter and then sat behind her, pulling the child into her lap. Lizzie looked up at her with a wide smile, earning a small one from Maple; who gently pried the small game was playing from her hands.  
"Sweetie, we need to have a talk about daddy." She said to her quietly. Lizzie nodded her head excitedly, it was clear the small girl thought it was good news. Maple bit her bottom lip, turning her gaze away to the window, wondering how exactly to phrase her next sentence. Lizzie waited patiently, her grey eyes never leaving her mother's face. Maple finally turned her attention back to her daughter a few moments later after releasing a breath her chest had decided to hold.  
"Daddy is...well…" She said trailing off, making the child's smile slowly drop from her face. "Do you remember when you were very little and daddy was very upset because his nana crossed the bridge in the sky?" She asked her, watching the little girl closely. She nodded her head, acting like she understood but Maple had no doubt that she actually didn't know where she was heading with this, or if she even remembered that day of Richard crying in the kitchen. Another deep breath and a slow release.  
"Well, that's where Daddy's gone. He's gone over the bridge in the sky to keep his nana company; she got very lonely up there by herself making sure everyone was safe and happy that Daddy said he needed to help her." Maple said to her, figuring maybe this would be the best way to tell her and when she was older she would be able to put the pieces together herself.

Of course, that sort of explanation didn't stop the water works from starting. Lizzie's face dropped, her brows knitted together as tears dropped from the child's eyes. Maple knitted her brows and brought the child closer to her to hug her tightly. She felt the small arms wrap themselves around her neck as the girl stood on her toes and buried her face into her shoulder.  
"Dad-dy's nev-ver ev-ver com-ing back a-again is he?" She muffled into her shoulder. Maple's lips thinned as she held her daughter close and promptly shook her head, leaning her own chin over the girls arms.  
"No sweetie, he's not. His nana needs lots and lots of help and he wants to make sure we stay safe and happy but he can't do that here because there is no magic here. He had to leave to do his job really good." She said pausing slightly and pulling her child away slightly. She used her thumbs to wipe the girls face, her own face wet from her tears, but she needed to be brave for this little one. She put on her best brave face, a reassuring smile through an emotional outburst.  
"But just know he will always love you, he'll always love me and it will be hard for a little while but we will make him proud and show him his job is not for nothing okay?" She said to her, stilling holding her child's face. Lizzie nodded her head weakly, eyes still watery, nose runny. The small hiccups taking over making it impossible to speak. Maple sniffed deeply, and let go of her daughters face. Lizzie just watched her through her blurred vision and dripping nose. Her mother places picked her up and settled her onto her right hip letting the girl bury her head into her shoulder.  
"We'll have a bath then go to bed okay sweetie?" She said to her, walking her over to the bathroom.  
"Do y-you think Dad-dy sent Pa-pad-dle?" The child asked muffled into her mother's shoulder. Maple nodded her head in response, replying a soft "yes." If pretending that the little cat in their care was sent by her father to look over them, then Maple would play along until she grew older to understand. Anything to make it easier.

The next morning Maple dropped Lizzie off to school with Ha Yoon, explaining to her mother why Lizzie was sad today. Ha Yoon managed to get her to laugh and lighten up a little bit. Kyung Soon didn't press, but gave her a reassuring one arm hug telling her that it would be alright. She offered to take Lizzie for the day after school which Maple agreed to. Kyung Soon said that maybe spending time with Ha Yoon will cheer her up and that would give time for Maple to get her own thoughts together. Maple was grateful for the offer. If she was honest, just telling the mother what had happened had lifted a weight off her shoulders she didn't know she was carrying. Sure, her friends now knew what was happening and that helped a lot, but just having someone understand why her child was upset, from her point of view, was comforting. Lizzie instantly lightened up with Kyung Soon told the girls that Lizzie was allowed to come round their house today. The parents dropped their children off at the gate and Kyung Soon wished Maple luck in her interview saying she would do a good job.

~•~

Maple stood outside the bar. She dressed in a pleated skirt with black tights and smart shoes. A white button shirt underneath and a waistcoat to bring it all together. The waistcoat helped show off the small waist and hips her frame carried. Her hair was tied to the side and curled at the bottom. Light make up of foundation and eye a light eyeshadow helped her stand out not to mention a small clutch bag with things like her CV inside as well as notes in case she forgot something important regarding pass achievements. She needed to look the part but also look professional. Maple read over the name once more. It was a gentlemen's club by the name of Yokoshima's gentlemen. This didn't put her off in the slightest, they were more strict with their rules then the pubs in Medway, from her understanding there was less chance of harassment from the punters.

She took a deep breath and walked towards the door. Gently knocked with the back of her hand she saw a peeper slide open up. Maple put on a small smile at the pair of eyes and politely bowed.  
"My name is Maple Van Den Berg, I'm here for the interview with Mr Yokoshima." Maple said to him, bringing herself up to her full height once more. Her surname belonged to Blessing and her family, Maple having taking it on as a sign of respect when she was twelve years old to the family.  
"Papers please." The man said. Maple nodded her head and dug through her clutch bag. She found a folded piece of paper and quickly glanced over it. It was the one confirmation the interview details. She held the paper towards the slider allowing the man to take it. He pulled it away from her fingers and then silence. Maple fidgeted on the spot to wait for him. The metal door opened slowly allowing her to step in. She thanked the man, who she could now see was very tall. He handed her back the slip and gave her the directions of the meeting room she would be interviewed in.

Finding the room she took her seat. Maple found herself in a room with several other woman, she felt a little overdressed compared to them. She took a deep breath and waited patiently for her name to be called. She grew nervous as the seconds ticked by. Digging out her notes she scanned through them, taking in the history of the club, what type of clientele it allowed it and what type of service they ran. Seemed simple enough. One by one the other girls went in to do their interview, but they were not being replaced. It seemed like Maple was their last interview, at least for this part of the day.  
"Maple Van Den Berg. Can you come in please?" A female assistant asked from the open door as another lady left. Maple's heart skipped a beat as she stood up, keeping her bag close to her; this was it.

She entered the interview room and promptly bowed to a gentleman who stood up from his seat and did the same, then to the person who called her name out. She could only assume the gentlemen was Mr Yokoshima, or very close business friend but maybe that was just her making assumptions.  
"Please, take a seat." The woman offered and Maple promptly did so. She tucked her skirt underneath and sat down, keeping her knees together and feet swept over to the went through typical pleasantries and introduced themselves. The brunette was right in thinking that this man was Mr then went through interview questions such as "Why are you best suited for this role" and "What can you bring to this role?" for which Maple had what she believed to be a stand out answer. She replied with confidence that she's British, and has been living in Britain until recently, this means she can bring some sort of exocticness to the bar in terms of culture and this may have a positive impact on their income. This seemed to have taken them by surprise as they quickly wrote down notes.

They had asked her about why she finished her GCSE's in College instead of secondary school, then iIt was the next question that took Maple off guard.  
"You're surely busy with a young child, how will you commit to work as this role is for between 6PM and Midnight." Mr Yokoshima asked her. Maple felt a lump forming in her throat from the anxious feeling that she thought had left. She didn't think about that when filling in the application form for this role and now that she thought about it what was she going to do? They wouldn't let her bring such a young child to a gentlemen's club and she couldn't ask her friends all the time to look after her child. She certainly couldn't afford a babysitter either.  
"I have some friends and my cousin lives here. I'm sure they'll be happy to watch over my daughter while I work." Maple said to them, just coming out with it and pulling her friends and family into a commitment they may not want to be a part of. However they nodded and wrote down more notes. Maple just hoped that if she asked they would help her out and if they couldn't and got this job then boy had she just shot herself in the foot.

~•~

"I think I did well." She told Tea as the pair sat in a cafe, having a general chat over some food. She had texted her once she got out of the interview asking her if she was free and wanted to grab some lunch with her. They sat outside the cafe, known for apparently doing very good ice-cream, which Maple had to try of course. Tea grinned at her, drinking some of her bubble tea through the straw.  
"When do you find out?" Tea asked her making the brunette think slightly to herself, humming to herself.  
"Later on today with any luck, I was their last one I think." Maple said to her taking a bite out of the ice-cream and then instantly regretting it. It was colder than she had expected, and God knows why she didn't think it would be cold the hint was in the name.

Tea couldn't help but chuckle at her as she took another sip from her bubble tea. Maple was grateful for the company if she was honest. She often got lonely by herself and this past week had shown just how lonely by herself she felt. It was difficult in her mind to have friends as she needed to put her little one first, moments like this were a rarity and she planned to enjoy every moment of them.  
"How you been feeling, since yesterday?" Tea asked her, gaining the brunette's attention. She hummed once more in thought. How did she feel? She didn't know. She felt lighter, should she be feeling lighter? Had she really mourned? She knew she cried so much back then, did that tape become the push she needed to finally tell her daughter so they could move on? So many questions whirled through her head she didn't know where to start.  
"I'm not sure...I feel lighter, as if a weight on my shoulders was lifted...almost grateful to be told it's okay to move on, should I be feeling that?" She questioned the brunette in front of her. Tea have her a sympathetic smile, one that she had seen many a times through other people.  
"We all mourn differently, maybe you did do it and this was all you needed." Tea said to her, and while it was not advise it had shown that she had listened, maybe that's all Maple needed.

Maple nodded her head, this time licking her ice cream cone instead of going and taking a bite out of it. She opened her mouth to say something until her phone started to vibrate across the table. The pair watches it briefly until Maple picked up the thing. The caller ID was a number she did not recognise.  
"Hello?" She answered questionly. She saw from the corner of her eye Tea shuffling her chair over and leaning her ear again the back of her phone so she could also hear what was being said. Maple didn't mind, it was odd she hadn't had this sort of friendly interaction for years but she wasn't going to push it away either.  
"Hello is this Ms Van Den Berg?" The other voice asked. Maple replied with a yes, indicating for the voice to continue. She quickly finished the ice cream cone, covering her mouth away from the speaker so it couldn't be heard. She could see Tea chuckle at her from the corner of her eyes. It was female, she gathered that much. "Hello my name is Hana, you had an interview with me and Mr Yokoshima earlier today? I just wanted to give you a quick call and offer you the job!" The woman advised, the sound of papers rustling came through the of the phone. A grin appeared on Mape's face as she looked at Tea briefly, who was grinning just as widely and quickly turned her attention back to her phone again, giving a thank you to the lady.  
"That's no problem. Your shift starts at 6PM on Thursday next week, you'll mostly be shadowing our senior server, Riko, so stick close to him to learn the ropes. See you on Thursday Ms Van Den Berg and congratulations again!" The woman said to her. Maple gave her thanks repeatedly and then placed her phone back onto the table. She took a deep breath and moved her hands to her mouth, squealing loudly into them. This was good news! Tea joined in on her excitement, saying that they should go and celebrate with everyone. Maple agreed, what they did she didn't know but she was excited for it either way.  
"Do you know what to do with Lizzie?" Tea asked her, causing Maple to think slightly. Maple just smiled at her and nodded her head.  
"I've got it figured it." She simply replied to her, holding her smile. She would need to do something that every fibre in her body told her not to do, but if they wanted to live and in her mind not burden her friends, she needed to do it.

~•~

The days went quickly. Maple was still building her portfolio for make up, now that she had a bar job she would have some money to keep her and Lizzie a float until she could find something either better or work her way up the chain in the gentlemen's club. Still, a job is a job and Maple had nearly all week to prepare. Lizzie and Ha Soon's playdate ended up being cancelled with Ha Yoon being very ill on the way to her house. Lizzie had waited for her outside and when she saw her she was excited as was Ha Yoon, who then immediately threw up through the apartment grates. It was agreed by both parents that maybe they should hold off for today until Ha Yoon got better. Maple had spent the next few hours cleaning the grate and cleaning the floor below, the girl had good aim and managed to throw up in front of someone's door. While Lizzie was sad, she did tell Ha Yoon to get better soon and that if she wasn't in tomorrow she'd bring her something from the museum.

Lizzie was getting better day by day. Each day she was more cheerful than before, until Sunday, but now that today is Monday she seemed to have perked up once more; just with the excitement of going to the museum. Maple had made sure that she got them both up and ready nice and early. Light make-up to make the adult look more human, making sure Lizzie ate some breakfast. The kids still had to wear their uniforms as they were representing the school, Maple dressed in some jeans, old converse that had definitely seen better days and a short blue shirt with a white, wide shoulder tank top over the top. She took her daughter to school as normal but this time she had followed her to the classroom, as her, along with two other parents were the volunteers for this trip.

The adults waited in the back of the classroom as the teacher explained what they would be learning that day. It wasn't just dinosaurs as Lizzie made it seem, which meant that Lizzie either switched off or switched on at the mention of the prehistoric creatures. Maple was getting to know the other two parents. One lady by the name of Yoko. She was much older and had two children, her youngest son being in this class and another lady by the name Yui. She had one child, her son being in this class as well. Maple pointed proudly to her daughter, explaining that she was her only daughter. She looked around for Ha Yoon but couldn't see her in the class and could only assume she was off sick today. Maple made a note that after the school day they'll go back to the gift shop and pick something out for Ha Yoon. Soon the teacher began splitting the class into four groups, each child whose parent was there was in their group and then there were six others in the group. That made them nice and controllable.

Soon they were on their way. It turned out that the museum was a lot closer to the school than Maple first thought, so the money they were handed was to cover lunch at the museum cafeteria, which was fine with her. When they exited the classroom, Maple turned to her group, smiling widely.  
"Okay, let's quickly say who we are and then we'll leave." She said excitedly to the group. "When I point to you, I want you to tell me your name okay? Ready?" She said to the group and first pointed to Lizzie to set an example.  
"Lizzie!" She said excitedly. Maple then pointed to the next child.  
"Akihiko!"  
"Chitose!"  
"Taiyo."  
"Yori"  
"Samantha!"  
"Taylor!" Each child said after being pointed at. Maple was expecting a majority of japanese children, what surprised her more was that they were bilingual, she shouldn't have been surprised but she was. Still, just meant she needed to teach Lizzie more at home.  
"Alright, I'm Maple. Let's head off!" She said to the group, pointing to herself and walking them towards the museum. She instructed them all to hold hands so they wouldn't be separated from each other. Last thing she needed was to lose a child in Domino city.

It didn't take long for the group to arrive. Maple asked them to follow her to the ticket person and quickly showed the officer their entry tickets. He checked them over, and once deciding they were genuine the group met up Yoko's group of children. They had been instructed to wait here until the whole class had arrived for a tour around the museum. The brunette almost jumped when she saw Bakura, until she remembered he said he was going to be the tour guide for this day after his boss told him he was leading a group. She gave a smile and a wave at the white haired man, earning a small smile back before he looked at his co-worker to discuss something with her. The children were getting restless, many asking Maple questions she didn't know. She had to admit, history was not a good subject of hers, she was fantastic at art and if you asked her to do some Geography she'd show you up, but everything else was a nope.

She felt a tug at her hand, and looked down to see Lizzie tugging at her. She looked at her questionably, and bent down to her level, wrapping her arms around her legs.  
"What is it sweets?" She asked her. She noted Lizzie looked concerned, her brows knitted together. Maple steeled herself for the worse, waiting for her to say something like there was someone following them and they couldn't see, or that something bad would happen. She ran through different scenarios in her mind.  
"Will we find something really good for Ha Yoon?" She asked her, making the brunette let go of her breath in relief. Maple nodded her head, giving her a wide smile.  
"Of course! Remember, Bakura is going to spend some time with us after as well, I'm sure he can help us look for something really good for her." She told Lizzie, earning a quick nod. She was soon distracted by a group mate who wanted her to look at the map with them. Maple quickly followed after the group, making sure to keep them in her sight at all times.  
"Okay everyone! Please come back here so we can begin!" She heard the teacher yell over. Maple tore her eyes away from the children pointing at the different things on the map they were excited to see for a second to look over at the teaching waving her hand and then looked back at her group. She ushered them over again to the larger group and stood behind them. The teacher did a head count and once satisfied everyone was here she turned her attention back to Bakura, asking him to take over. The white haired male nodded his head and looked at the group.  
"Good morning. My name's Bakura. We've got quite a lot planned for you all today. During your tour, there will be a map for you all to fill in, the first group to hand over a map with everything we've asked for on it gets a prize." He explained as the teacher handed the helpers the maps. Maple bent down at the knees showing her group the map, and handed it to Taiyo to keep a hold of him, whispering for him to keep it safe, the young boy nodded his head quickly, keeping the paper close to him as if on a mission. She looked back up to the front again once she heard the white haired man speak once more.  
"We have lunch scheduled for half twelve. Before we head off, I need to inform you of a few house rules. We do not have a fire alarm scheduled today. If you hear it you'll need to make your way to the exit on the ground floor just behind the World War One exhibit. Stick to your group leader in this event. We ask that you do not touch anything, unless there is a sign saying you can do so. Do not be rude to our staff or your buddy, we do not tolerate that here." Bakura explained. Maple found it odd. The man was a quiet, reserved man, who seemed awfully shy however here, here he seemed to be in his element. He spoke with confidence, enough to make the children listen at least. Maple had to admit, it was nice seeing the young man come out of his shell.

Once he was sure everyone understood the house rules he began taking the group round the museum, the first exhibit they visited was the Roman exhibition. Maple took in the sights. The museum wasn't small, and seemed to have more than one theme. From the quick glance at the map Taiyo held, possibly give, at least that's what they were visiting. Once they had reached the Roman exhibition, Bakura gave a small back story and then left it for the class to explore.

Taiyo got his classmates to look at the map, Maple could only guess he was competitive. She knelt down behind them looking at the map as well.  
"We need to look for this really big pointy stick!" He said, pointing to what looked like a spear on the map. The small group nodded their heads and immediately began looking around at everything for the Spear. Samantha got distracted at the models fighting a stuffed lion.  
"Miss Maple, why are they hurting the lion?" She asked, gaining the brunette's attention. Maple raised an eyebrow at her and looked over the models. That was a good question, she wasn't sure herself. She never really understood the sport.  
"Why don't we have a look here?" She asked her, spotting a small plaque. Samantha followed her over to the golden plaque and stood on her toes to try and read it properly. She kept her fingers on the golden plaque leaving small finger prints as her eyes glanced down over her cheeks trying to see what it says. Maple thought for a second as she placed her hands onto her knees to get closer to the information herself. She glanced over the text trying to find a good spot to read from that may not possibly scar the child mentally.  
"Many gladiators were slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war. Fighting hungry animals was called _venationes_ , which means wild beast hunts. It was a form of entertainment for the people. Fighting animals was rare with the gladiators mostly fighting each other for glory and fame, or even to have their life spared." Maple read to Samantha. Samantha made an oh sound as she looked back up to the models once more. She knitted her brows together and closed her eyes tightly sticking out her tongue.  
"That's mean!" She shouted at the model, as if the thing would hear her and apologise.

Maple chuckled at the child's distaste. She looked over the models once more and noticed a long like weapon in his hand free from the shield. It looked like a spear. Maple looked around for Taiyo, and called his name when she saw him looking at the hungry animal fights models. He trotted over with Lizzie in toe. Maple indicated for him to get the map out, which he promptly did. She turned to Lizzie, asking if she had a pencil in her bag. Lizzie quickly took off her back pack and started looking through it.  
"What's in his hand?" Maple asked, pointing to the gladiator model. Taiyo looked at the model, then grinned excitedly. He was about to shout what it was until Samantha covered his mouth with a very long "shh". Lizzie held out a green pencil proudly. Soon the rest of Maple's group came over, saying that Mr Bakura said they were moving on. Maple quickly got them to write down the name of the models that the spear was part of. It was decided Akihiko would write down the names, as according the the group he had the best hand writing out of all of them.  
"Gladiators glory." She told Akihiko, that being the name of the model display. The light brown haired boy quickly wrote down the words before annoying he was finished and stood up from the floor. Maple grinned at him and ushered the group of the room towards the next item. With any luck, they should have everything written down that was being searched for.

~•~

Lunch time soon rolled round and boy was the adult glad. The children kept saying they were hungry and there was only so many times Maple could say lunch would be soon before they didn't believe her. She sat them down at the table and quickly got them some sandwiches, fruit slices and juice. Sitting down, the brunette looked at the fun map they were filling in. They had many different items already, in fact it looked like they had all the items asked for so far which was good, they were well on their way. Maple asked how they were enjoying themselves and got mostly good responses from the small group. She looked over to Lizzie, who had remained quiet and staring off near an exhibit entrance, she hadn't touched her food and instead was just staring, her sandwich held between her hands. Maple knitted her brows and looked over but couldn't see anything. She turned her attention back to Lizzie.  
"What's the matter?" She asked the child who blinked and looked up at her mother. She smiled widely at her and resumed eating her sandwich again happily. Maple furrowed her brows once more, that wasn't something that was normal. She turned her attention back to the exhibit, noticing it was the dinosaurs one and could only assume something caught her eye. Luckily, that was one of the ones they still needed to visit, so whatever it was that peaked her interest she'd be able to see soon.

Something nagged at the back of her mind, digging itself into the corners. Something told her that there wasn't anything there and whatever sort of psychic tap Lizzie had was starting to show itself. Maple ignored it though, she refused for this to be the case; not right now. Lizzie wouldn't be prepared for that right now, Maple wasn't prepared for that right now. She hadn't even ran it through her mind as of yet how she would even brooch the subject with Lizzie. Telling her daughter that she may possibly be psychic and even more different to her classmates in this country than she already was...she couldn't do that. It went against her very being.  
"We're leaving in five minutes." Bakura said from behind her, making her snapped her head up. She hadn't realised she was just staring a hole into her own sandwiches and left them untouched. She turned her attention to Bakura, giving him a small smile and thanking him for the reminder. He nodded his head and went back to telling the other groups as well. If he had noticed something he certainly wasn't bringing it up right now and maybe that was for the best. It was difficult explaining things to one child, let alone a group of seven of them.

Lunch soon finished, after tidying up the dining area the groups started making their way around the museum again. They went into an Ancient Egyptian exhibit, which seemed to be quite popular in Domino city with the view of mummies on display and various things like old pottery and tools. There was no special exhibit this time round, but that still didn't stop Bakura being quite passionate about this one particular subject. Something about this particular subject bought out a more confident side of him, even more so than just doing his job. He was more animated, more vocal and seemed more knowledgeable. Maple put it down to him just really enjoying Egyptian things.

Maple turned her attention to Lizzie, and saw her staring off once more. She raised an eyebrow in question at her and looked in the direction she was looking at but couldn't seem to find anyone. Just as Maple was about to ask her what was wrong, she shrieked, gaining the class's attention. Lizzie latched onto her mother's side, breathing heavily, her eyes wide as if she had just seen a ghost. Her face had paled with sweat beading across her forehead. The teacher dismissed her, saying to quickly take her out of the exhibit as maybe she got spooked by a mummy and to wait out there, they would look after her small group. The brunette thanked the teacher and quickly walked Lizzie out from the exhibit, who refused to let go of her clothing and even went as far as avoiding a spot at the exhibit entrance.

Once outside, Maple managed to pry the child off her clothing and knelt down in front of her. She sat on her knees, grabbing a hold of her daughters hands who was just staring at the space that she was desperately avoiding. Maple knitted her brows together. She put on a small smile for the child.  
"Hey...What's the matter?" She asked her gently, rubbing her small hands with her thumbs. Lizzie eventually tore her eyes away from the spot and looked at her mother. The fear evident on her face and in her voice as she spoke.  
"H-H-Ha Yoon w-was stand-ding th-ere but she loo-oked, s-she look-ed." Lizzie stuttered out, only making Maple knit her brows together more. "S-She look-ked de-de-de-a-a-ad!" Lizzie managed to sputter out. Maple felt a cord strike in her very being. A chill going down into her very soul. It was like the air become cold and constricting, it became harder to breathe yet she was not the one experiencing this. If Maple, the woman not experiencing or seeing what Lizzie was seeing was feeling this way, she couldn't imagine what her daughter was actually feeling. Maple swallowed hard as she took out her phone from her jeans pockets.  
"We'll give her mum a quick call okay? Ha Yoon is fine! Just sick. We can ask what she'd like okay?" Maple said to her. Lizzie watched her mother closely as she pulled up Kyung Soon's number. A few rings and the woman answered with a normal hello. Maple asked if Kyung Soon could quickly turn on her video camera, and the woman obliged with Maple doing the same. In the bottom corner was Maple and a very upset Lizzie and on the main screen was Kyung Soon.  
"We're just wondering how Ha Yoon is doing. How she feeling?" Maple asked her. Kyung Soon gave a small smile and quickly turned around to show Ha Yoon happily sitting up in her bed reading a book.  
"She has a small fever but she will be back tomorrow in school." Kyung Soon said to her, before muttering something in Korean and gaining her daughter's attention. Ha Yoon looked up at the phone and smiled widely, waving her hand at the camera, her face a little red from the fever.

Maple turned her attention back to Lizzie, giving her a sympathetic smile. Lizzie timidly waved back at the camera, using her other hand to rub her eyes.  
"Is everything okay? Why was Lizzie so upset?" Kyung Soon asked her gaining Maple's attention. Maple shook her head slightly.  
"She was just worried that's all. Actually we wanted to know what Ha Yoon would like from here." Maple said to her, quickly bringing the attention away from Lizzie's small melt down. Kyung Soon thought for a second before turning her attention back to Ha Yoon and asking her the same in Korean. The black haired girl responded back excitedly to her mother.  
"A cat teddy." Kyung Soon answered simply. Maple nodded her head saying they'd see what they can find and said her goodbyes. Kyung Soon waved at the camera with Ha Yoon shouting Bye to Lizzie. Once the call ended, Maple pocketed her phone and turned her attention back to Lizzie who had visibly calmed down. She could only assume that Lizzie's mind was getting a little over active with everything she saw today and it was unfortunate for what it created.

Just as she was about to speak to her, the groups started coming back out again. Maple's group immediately swarmed around Lizzie, asking her if she was okay and if the mummies scarred her. Lizzie protested, saying mummies weren't scary but the group was having none of that. Taylor interrupted the group, saying that they got the answer from that exhibit and the last thing they needed was from the dinosaurs. Lizzie instantly perked up, getting excited to see them with the rest of the group. Maple stood up from her spot on the floor. One moment, the child was petrified, crying after seeing her friend having supposedly met her end, and the next, as in now, she was fine and excited to see giant lizard bones and the such. Maple couldn't get her head around it. It was odd to her. The air as soon as she knew that little girl was okay was back to it's normal warm self, her soul felt untouched, as if nothing had even entered it.

The teacher asked if everything was okay and if Lizzie was feeling okay. Maple replied that she was, and it just seems the museum has really got her mind going. This seemed to be enough for the teacher to accept, who joked saying luckily it was only the last one, and that everybody seemed super excited for this one. Maple chuckled in the reply, only for it to fall short with that nagging feeling once more in the back of her mind, tearing into it with each passing moment. Surely it was just an overactive imagination and nothing else...surely.

~•~

The day soon ended. The youngsters went home. Maple's group did not win the small class competition. They had gotten the dinosaur question wrong. It was Yoko's group that got it all right and received their free prize, which was some sweet bags. This made the children more than happy. Maple stood in the giftshop, her hands clasped together behind her back as she watched Lizzie look through all the stuffed animals trying to decide what she wanted to get and what to get Ha Yoon.  
"Did you and Lizzie enjoy yourselves?" She heard the familiar voice ask. Turning her head slightly to meet the face, Maple nodded and turned her attention back to Lizzie again.  
"We did yes. You have a natural talent for guiding people around this place." She commented to him. Bakura gave her a small smile and shrugged his shoulders slightly.  
"I just got asked to do it, I mostly go out to try and make up exchange deals with museums around the world. This was a nice change of pace." He said to her, making her hum slightly in her throat.  
"Well, for someone who doesn't do this regularly, you did very well. Thank you for showing us around." She said to him, giving him a wide grin. Bakura gave her a small smile, the shyness slowly creeping back however not a fast pace like Maple had thought it would. She could only assume it was the hype from earlier of doing something he normally wouldn't do.  
"Is Lizzie okay?" Bakura asked her lowly, drawing the brunette's attention before she went back to watching her daughter.  
"She is now. We needed to call her friend's mum but she's okay now." She said to her, noticing the concerned look that she was receiving. "I'll tell you later when she isn't around." Maple said to him. Bakura nodded understandably at the request.

Lizzie soon trotted up to Maple showing her the stuffed lion plush she picked out from the toys. A wide smile covered her face as she held it up, jumping on the balls of her feet. Maple looked over, briefly pretending to consider it as Lizzie continued to hold it up excitedly.  
"I think Ha Yoon will like this one! Can we get it for her please?" Lizzie asked her desperately. Maple pretended to consider it more, moving her hands from behind her back and placing one onto her chin, taking in a deep breath and letting out a "hhhmmm."  
"Plllleeeaaassseee?" Lizzie asked once more, making Maple sound another, longer hhmmm. She then nodded her head at her, smiling widely at her.  
"Sure, I'm sure she'll love it. Have you picked out what you want?" Maple asked her. Lizzie thought for a second, as if second guessing herself, and looked over briefly to where the stuffed turtle plushies were. She then looked back at her mother shook her head quickly at the question.  
"I did but I want to get this for Ha Yoon!" She said to her seriously.  
"That's a very grown up thing to do." Bakura commented to her. Lizzie smiled widely, nodding her head in agreement that she was indeed being grown up.  
"Come on then, let's get this one for Ha Yoon. I'm sure she'll love it!" Maple said to her, excusing herself quickly from Bakura's side and taking the child up to the counter.

Bakura watched from his spot as the child stood on her toes and placed the lion very gently onto the counter top. The cashier lady smiled sweetly at the child, making small talk and receiving very excited answers from what he could tell from behind. He watched from behind as Maple stayed quiet, letting Lizzie make the whole transaction, the only time stepping in was to help the girl count the money for the toy, making sure she had the right amount. He tried to figure out where the connection with Duke came in. Duke, who was known for his brash attitude and very straight forwardness, and then his cousin, who seemed to have devoted everything to keeping her child happy. He couldn't help but wonder if it was a lonely life, and from her age alone, it must have taken a toil on her; not being able to do what all the other teenagers her age could do from what Duke said when he did speak about his cousin however few and far between that was.

Once the transaction was done, Lizzie hugged the bag tightly to her, saying thank you and bowing at the cashier lady respectively before happily trotting over to where Bakura was to show off what she did.  
"I did it all by myself!" She said happily, earning a small smile from the white haired man.  
"Well done!" He said enthusiastically back to her, just making the grin on her face wider as her mother followed behind. Maple mentioned that she was going to get a quick drink from the cafe and if he still wanted to come along.  
"I'll meet you there, I just need to check something first." He said to her. Maple accepted this and pointed over to where they would be. She offered her hand to Lizzie, gently taking it and walked her over to the cafeteria, leaving Bakura behind to do what he needed to do. Once he was sure they were out of sight he quickly walked over to where Lizzie had been staring at in the giftshop.

* * *

 _I listened to so much Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni OST to this chapter oml._


End file.
